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Idle talk won't save lives

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The Boxing Day shooting tragedy in Toronto has shocked and saddened us all. As a father, I cannot imagine a worse nightmare. As one raised in Toronto, I see a different city than the one in which I grew up.

The brutal end to a promising young life should be a wake-up call to all in positions of authority: a call to crack down on gun crime and gang violence. For years, Canadians have been urging their governments to get tough on crime. The time is long overdue for their leaders to respond.

While this incident alone should be enough to prompt action, the sad reality is that it continues a pattern. The number of gun murders in Toronto has virtually doubled in the space of one year. Across the country in 2004 we experienced a 12% increase in homicides.

Canadians know that the growing violence and the proliferation of gangs, guns and drugs that accompany it are directly attributable to years of government lassitude and neglect.

Failure to enforce drug laws (and high-profile attempts to weaken them), a revolving door parole policy, and a myopic fixation on registration of farmers' shotguns instead of penalties for gun crime, have all taken their toll.

The federal government has left 1059 RCMP positions unfilled, it disbanded the Ports Canada Police that once patrolled and protected against gun smuggling, and it has no idea how many illegal guns are present in Canada. Cabinet ministers take pride in legislation that allows conditional sentences (basically, house arrest) to replace incarceration -- even for serious crimes involving violence, weapons and drugs. The law governing young offenders is weak and disrespected.

Is it any surprise that these woolly headed policies have exacerbated the problems of gang, gun and drug crime? This is the current government's record.

Little wonder that the federal government wants to turn the recent shootings into an abstract discussion of rights and values.

Gang violence is not in the Charter of Rights. Gun crime is not a Canadian value.

Equally shameful have been politicians' attempts to explain away what happened. Some have implied that perhaps the shooters themselves were victims of exclusion from society.

Law-abiding citizens were outraged by such blithe rhetoric. When a young girl is killed and other innocent bystanders are injured while they shop, it is no time for idle talk about social theories.

It is simplistic and naive to rationalize that young people turn to gangs, drug trade and gun crime because they feel excluded from society. More to the point, it is irresponsible for any leader to make excuses for gang violence.

There is no making sense of senseless violence. There is no point trying to understand a criminal act for which there is no excuse.

If feel-good sentiment were the easy antidote to gun crime, then there should be fewer shootings than a generation ago. If government hand-outs were a quick fix, then gang violence should be disappearing rather than rising.

The law must impose mandatory prison sentences for weapons offences, violent crimes and drug trafficking offences. We must end conditional sentences (house arrest) for weapon offences and other serious crimes.

The law governing young offenders must be strengthened to require that violent or serious repeat offenders 14 years of age or older be tried in adult court. Further, statutory release, the law entitling prisoners to parole after serving two-thirds of their sentence, must be replaced with earned parole.

We must grant customs officers, who serve on the front lines of the fight against gun smuggling, full resources to execute powers of arrest. We must also re-establish the Ports Canada Police and allow them to renew the fight against gun smuggling.

In addition to getting tough on crime, we must focus on prevention. This includes investing in Canadian youth, ensuring the presence of real opportunity, and offering positive role models. Federal, provincial and municipal governments must co-operate with one another and with police and community leaders to support programs that help young people to recognize the dangers of violence in their schools and community.

Prevention is only effective, however, if it includes deterrence and strong law enforcement.

The Boxing Day tragedy should serve as a wake-up call. We need to spend less time trying to rationalize gang violence, and more time trying to stop it.