Mayor John Tory announces $12M in measures to address rising gun violence

The city will spend at least $12 million on several initiatives to tackle gangs and gun violence as Toronto deals with an increase in shootings, Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday.

He announced 16 initiatives designed to address the roots of violence, including a children's crisis recovery team and expanding youth job programs.

"No child is born bad," Tory said at a news conference at city hall.

He said he's applied for funding from the federal government and also has a pledge of support from the provincial government.

Tory said there will be more job fairs in marginalized communities with high unemployment, and 1,800 more referrals to a youth and employment program.

The announcement comes less than a week after the mayor said $15 million from all three levels of government was earmarked for efforts to curb gun violence, including programs aimed at preventing youth from joining gangs.

Toronto Police statistics show shooting deaths are up. So far in 2018, 27 people have died from gunfire, compared to 17 at this point last year. The total number of shootings is also up, to 220, compared to 196 a year ago. 

The mayor said some of the programs work on preventing people from ever turning to crime, while others work with those who have experience with the criminal justice system.

"The safety of our city depends on all of us being relentless in all of the causes of crime, as well as addressing crime itself," Tory said.

It was recently announced that 200 police officers would be added to the night shift over the summer in an effort to reduce gun violence.

As Tory announced funding for a children's mental health and trauma recovery program, he mentioned speaking with the mother of two girls who were shot on a playground. 

The mother says children in the neighbourhood are still too traumatized to return to play outside again.

'Young people are in fear'

The children's trauma program is one Zya Brown, founder of the organization Think2wice, feels is needed.

 "Young people are in fear," she said. "Young people need positive coping strategies to the grief."

But she cautions that for any of the programs to work, they need to be run well, by the right people.

"Trust is a big thing," Brown said, adding that without it and cultural sensitivity, young people won't participate.  

"So if it's the wrong people and the wrong organizations, it could end up being a waste of money."

She'd also like to see programming for youth who are behind bars. 

"We lock them up and then once again, what do they do when they're inside? There's absolutely no programming."

Community Crisis Response Program to double

The city of Toronto's Community Crisis Response Program is also being doubled to eight staff members.

Scott McKeane, the city manager who runs the program, says his four staff responded to 604 violent traumatic incidents across the city in 2017 — going into communities after violent incidents such as shootings, stabbings and gun and gang activity.

"It's a huge burden when they're also trying to do the prevention work, which really makes the program thrive." 

He added that the program's aim is not just to "parachute in to a community" after a crisis and leave, but also to offer training and workshops.

"The main thing we hear [from people is] they're tired of gun violence and they want to do something about it."

Increase in youth jobs

The mayor's announcement included a number of initiatives aimed at bringing jobs for youth.

YouthWorx is one program that start hiring more young people as early as next week, with an extra 50 jobs available. The program currently has 105 young summer staff.

It hires people aged 14-29 who live in Toronto Community Housing to do maintenance work, including repairs and community gardening at public housing facilities.

"They're able to get money in their pocket, so they're able to do their back-to-school shopping," said Angela Cooke, the vice-president of resident and community services at Toronto Community Housing.