COMMUNITY SAFETY FIRST

Tory gets priorities straight amid surge of violence

You can say this for John Tory. He is listening when it comes to taking safety in Toronto seriously.

Tory’s plan for increased police and TTC special constables is just part of the puzzle of fixing what’s wrong in the city, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Last Tuesdsay, the mayor unveiled his police plan, followed the next day by his TTC plan. Both call for more enforcement and the hiring of more officers – which, of course, outrages the defund-the-police crowd.

“One of our principal responsibilities is to keep our communities safe and to keep Torontonians safe,” Tory said last Tuesday.

As he unvelied his plan to add 200 new officers as part of a 4.3% increase to the police budget, Tory said he understands the anxiety people are feeling due to rising crime. Since he came to office, major crime is up 32%, and it’s up 17% since 2021, according to the Toronto Police data portal.

Part of the anxiety of late is the TTC, where a woman was murdered on the subway in December and a man was pushed onto the tracks last week.  It’s why Tory’s announcement last Wednesday was  about a fare increase of 10 cents a ride that will fund in part extra special constables and programs to help those who often live on the TTC, or at least spend much of their day seeking shelter on it.

We’re trying everything to make sure we have an increase presence of people committed to safety, that we have all kinds of things that are dedicated to making sure people can feel safe and are safe when they ride the TTC,” Tory said.

Councillor Josh Matlow, leader of the defund-the-police brigade and a man already laying the groundwork for a 2026 run at the mayor’s chair, was against both of Tory’s proposals.

“Mayor Tory’s decision to increase the $1.1 billion police budget is neither the fact based nor most effective way to combating crime,” Matlow said in a statement.

We can have a debate about whether the police budget is spent effectively, but Matllow talking about fact based approaches when he voted in 2020 to cut the police budget by 10% based on a slogan is a bit rich. Matlow wants any increase in spending to go toward poverty reduction, mental health, homelessness and other issues.

These are all things the city funds as well and will fund further as part of the police and TTC proposals.

There is $2 million for an anti violence program for youth and families as part of the police announcement. The TTC changes will see 10 more streets to homes outreach workers hired to help with the vulnerable population, the people essentially living on the system.

The activists will say Tory’s proposals aren’t good enough, that more needs to be done to address the root causes of crime. I don’t disagree with that idea, but what do we do about those already committing crime?

Tory’s proposals won’t solve everything – there is still need for bail reform, which is in federal hands – but the mayor did call for that at his announcement last Tuesday. We will need to see bail and parole compliance become part of a priority for the police service again. We will need to see judges and justices of the peace consider the effects of granting bail so loosely or of issuing light sentences for violant crimes.