Cynics Unlimited

Also see: The Jane Creba Factor

Approximately 1 month ago, 15 year old Jane Creba was shot to death while shopping with her family during Toronto’s busy Boxing Day sales. This senseless murder created international headlines while generating strong opinions from politician and citizen alike. People unanimously agreed that it was time to take action on Toronto’s escalating gun violence problem, but what exactly happened over the last month?

The Net Flared …

“Jane Creba” was briefly the number 1 search term on blog aggregator site Technorati. Bloggers from all over the world weighed in on the high-profile shooting, with the majority of blogs offering condolences. Some blogs (including this one) wondered aloud whether Creba’s demographic caused the sudden outburst of public outrage over gun violence.

“I think the death of Jane Creba is tragic, and horrifying. We should be this shocked and horrified about it. But we should have been just as shocked and horrified about the other 51 gun deaths this year. It shouldn’t have taken a white girl getting shot on Yonge St. for this issue to be addressed with this urgency and determination”
-Missy B, Missy B’s Spot (January 6, 2006)

This prompted indignation from other bloggers and columnists:

“At least the African Canadians can take some comfort in the fact that although they may be the victims of racism, at least they are not demonized like small “c” conservatives in our progressive and oh so tolerant society are –you know the ones that were labelled as racists, bigots and Holocaust deniers by former Liberal cabinet minister Tubby Caplan. You know–the ones who were demanding action be taken against gun crime before it became fashionable on December 26.”
-Arthur Weinreb, Canada Free Press (January 11, 2006)

“To suggest that the outpouring of grief that we have seen is because Jane Creba is white is simply off the mark and I personally take it as an insult.”
-John Lawrence, conservativejoe.com (January 2006)

Root causes of the crime were attributed to the usual suspects (American guns, lack of social funding, black people, Jamaicans, poor enforcement of laws, immigration) but there was no strong consensus on how the issue should be addressed.

Police Blitzed …

Besieged by public rage and the election-inspired prompting of politicians, the Toronto police force went into damage control mode and stepped up their surveillance and arrest of suspected gang members. Toronto attorney Jason Bogle, fresh from a birthday celebration, was mistakenly targeted in a high-profile takedown by police. Bogle –a one time scholarship recipient from Association of Black Law Enforcers- is now suing the police force for false imprisonment, racial profiling, slander and false detention. The fact that Bogle was a well-dressed black man in a nice car on heightened tensions among middle class blacks that they too were targets in the ad hoc gang crackdown. Police claim the takedown was a case of mistaken identity and deny any profiling.

A Reverend Evangelized …

The first of two anti-crime exports from the USA was Reverend Eugene Rivers, responsible for the much-heralded Boston miracle. Rivers was paid a six figure sum to, among other things, take a tour of Toronto and visit those neighborhoods largely responsible for much of the gun violence. After being warmly received by Toronto Mayor David Miller and police chief Bill Blair, the Reverend broke ranks with those offering the usual vague explanations to focus directly on the black community. Rivers both frightened and electrified local residents by discussing all the taboo topics related to the violence:

“Ultimately the crisis of the black community, politically, culturally and socially is a crisis of the absence of black fatherhood”
-Eugene Rivers, Sermon at Seventh Day Adventist Church, January 2006

Eugene Rivers also presented the 10-point plan, which served as the basis for the Boston miracle. These points included

• Church-run “Adopt a Gang” programs to establish drop-in centers for troubled youth
• Commission of youth evangelists to work 1 on 1 with street kids and drug dealers
• Broad economic development within problem communities
• Strengthening of ties between inner-city and suburban churches
• Establishment of rape crisis centers for women and treatment programs for abusive men

Rivers’ fiery evangelical delivery did not appeal to everyone attending his sermon-based lectures. Furthermore, it was not clear whether there was a place for the non-devout in his anti-gang initiatives. Most importantly, however, Rivers was gone well before he could put a hand in any of the implementation that would turn his lofty ideas into a Toronto Miracle.

Angels Descended…

Another American-born crime solution arrived in the form of the Guardian Angels, who attempted to set up shop in Toronto earlier this month. During 1979, former night manager Curtis Silwa had become so fed up with the escalating crime in New York that he founded the Angels – an unarmed, citizen-based, beret-clad group that patrols some of the big apple’s most dangerous streets to report wrongdoing. Despite billing themselves as extra eyes and ears for the police, New York officials were initially cool to the idea of a “vigilante” group doing police work. However the Angels proved useful to the NYPD and have since established chapters all over the world …

… except Toronto, that is. The Guardian Angels are trying to set up a Toronto chapter for the third time since the 80’s and City Hall’s response has been less than enthusiastic. Chief Blair denied ever being contacted by Silwa for a meeting, while David Miller dismissed outright the need for any citizen’s based group in Toronto:

“Toronto is much safer than Boston and Chicago … We need to remember what works here. Learn what we can from others, but use what works here and make it much more effective”
-David Miller on the Guardian Angels (January 2006)

The Guardian Angels founder disagreed:

“These gangs are going to get more fierce, more deadly and soon they’ll turn into Uzi-toting dope-sucking psychopathic killing machines, unless more creative approaches are used, and it has to start now”
-Curtis Silwa on the future of Toronto Gangs (January 2006)

Citizens were divided the presence of Silwa’s group. While some denounced the Guardian Angels as vigilantes that could exacerbate the gang mentality behind much of the city’s violence, others were willing to try a new technique that has been cited in reducing crime throughout the U.S. Curtis Silwa eventually left the country (on the orders of Immigration Canada) but vowed he’d be back to set up a chapter with the two dozen Torontonians who pledged to join the group.

The Mayor Campaigned …

When Jane Creba was killed, Mayor Miller was vacationing in sunny Spain. News of the shooting and subsequent public outcry prompted Miller to eventually fly home and issue a series of statements about getting tough on crime. Miller missed the hastily-prepared Toronto Gun Summit (as did the Premier and Prime Minister) but issued a series of please to ban all handguns from Toronto. Miller also trailed along Liberal MP John Godfrey, hoping to convince Torontonians that at least one Liberal MP should be spared in the event of a federal Conservative takeover in the GTA:

“John Godfrey … has delivered for our city — on public transit funding, on child care, on affordable housing, on immigration”
-David Miller on Liberal MP John Godfrey

This apparent endorsement of a specific political party angered some Torontonians, including St. Paul’s Conservative candidate Peter Kent. Despite rebuffing the Angels, Miller stressed the need for more [paid] resources to attack crime directly.

… And the Shooting Continued

The reactionary wave of arresting, politicking, finger-pointing, posturing, evangelizing and emoting did little stem the flow of gun violence in the GTA. The first shooting of the year occurred in the wee hours of New Year’s Day, and the rate of murder has risen since then. This past weekend, there were 3 separate shootings, including one in Mississauga by young men who were refused entry to a house party.

In short, there has been a lot of “action” since Jane Creba died on Yonge street, but not much of it seems to have impacted on violent crime. In fairness, Canadians will be going to the polls in less than 12 hours and the election generally takes precedence over all other political matters; however, there is very little to indicate that the politicians or even Canadians themselves have a definite direction on how to attack this problem. Cynics Unlimited may visit this topic again to see whether Jane Creba, like Jason Huxtable, Sepehr Fatulahzadeh-Rabti and other innocent victims, died in vain … but so far the outlook is not bright.