Toronto’s Gun Crisis

Toronto is in a period of crisis. The multitude of shootings in Toronto have made news across the country, and even in other major cities around the world. You don’t have to hear it from me, it seems as though everyone under the sun has something to say about it. Those blog links have all the news article links you could want as well, so I won’t bother linking to them again, but it is high time I say something about this growing problem in my city. Especially when it hits close to home.

Loyan Mohamed Ahmed was shot and killed on Monday morning. Loyan and his family were beloved members of the community: I have had the opportunity to work at the same community centre as his sister and his father, and the sheer number of people (almost 2000) that attended his funeral shows just the high regard that him and his family held in this neighborhood.

A lot of people — the mayor of Toronto included — have been quick to blame this problem on the illegal gun trade between Canada and our neighbor to the south. Though I’m aware that a lot of the firearms on our side of the border originate in the USA, I’m not too sure that tighter border regulations are going to fix the problem. After all, cutting of the main supply will only lead to new suppliers.

The problem is on the demand side: why do the youth in our city feel the need to carry — and worse, use — guns? It’s a proven fact that people of all ages will begin to do irresponsible things if they are not productively engaged. So it’s only fair to say that by keeping the youth across the city, and particularly violence-prone areas, engaged in productive activity, we can keep them out of trouble

This is where recreation comes in. More funding is seriously needed for city recreation programs. Not only does recreation provide a forum for youth in the community to get involved in activities that foster creativity, tolerance, physical fitness, and mental stimulation, but it also keeps them off the streets and into programs that let them deal with their anger and other issues in a productive and constructive manner.

So Mayor David Miller, though I know blaming the USA is the “in” thing to do right now, maybe you need to stop focusing on policing the border, and feed some more money into the people that will make that border policing obsolete: your recreation workers.