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76% blame lax judges for gun violence: Toronto poll

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TORONTO - More than three-quarters of Toronto residents believe lenient judges are allowing gun crime to flourish in Canada's cities, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the National Post and Global News.

Following the Boxing Day shooting of 15-year-old Jane Creba, 76% of respondents to the Ipsos Reid survey said lax judges are a "major factor" spurring gun violence. One of the suspects charged in relation to the gunfight that killed Ms. Creba and left six others wounded was out on parole at the time of the incident.

"People are really wondering what these judges are doing," said Darrell Bricker, president of Ipsos Reid.

Eighty-nine per cent of Toronto residents polled blamed gangs for the shootings that have made gun crime a top issue in the federal election campaign while 78% cited drugs and drug trafficking.

In contrast, far fewer respondents pointed to social issues as the cause of increased violence. Less than half said poverty was a major cause of gun crime, while 31% blamed a lack of affordable housing, 45% cited inadequate funding for recreation programs and 49% listed youth unemployment.

Mr. Bricker said the results suggest Torontonians want their politicians to respond to the shootings rather than worrying about the root causes of crime. "The people want to look at immediate solutions that are specifically related to the judicial system," Mr. Bricker said. "They're about getting tough on crime and increasing sentences."

Senior federal bureaucrats will meet with their counterparts from Ontario and Toronto today to identify solutions to a spate of shootings that killed 52 people in the city last year. Among the proposals under discussion are "reverse onus" provisions that will require individuals charged with weapons offences to explain why they deserve bail instead of forcing prosecutors to give reasons for keeping suspects in jail.

Mayor David Miller, Premier Dalton McGuinty and Paul Martin endorse the reforms.

At a news conference yesterday, a coalition of African-Canadian groups suggested that those same officials ignored the shooting deaths of dozens of black youth last year but jumped into action when Ms. Creba -- who was white -- was murdered.

"We've had more than 40 black youth die as the result of gun violence and we have not seen our governments react in such an immediate and strong way," said Sandra Carnegie-Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Coalition of African Canadian Organizations. "We wonder if it was a black youth that was murdered on December 26 whether they would've moved as quickly."

The coalition also complained that leaders from Toronto's black community were not invited to today's meeting. City Councillor Michael Thompson said race is not what is prompting government action. "People are sick and tired of what's taken place in the city in terms of the gun violence. If this was a young black boy ... I believe the community would be in an uproar as we're seeing now."

Mr. Martin's anti-crime strategy includes plans to ban handguns and increase minimum sentences for related crimes such as smuggling, trafficking and possession of a gun in a public place.

Stephen Harper and the Conservative party want to introduce automatic jail time for individuals convicted of weapons offences and want to improve airport and border security.

Many of the parties' proposals are strongly supported by Toronto voters, the poll results suggest. Sixty per cent of residents believe inadequate gun laws are a problem while 62% worry about inadequate border controls.

Both the Liberals and the Conservatives have accused their rivals of blocking efforts to stiffen prison sentences for gun crimes. However, Mr. Bricker said voters may end up punishing Mr. Martin and his party. "There's only one guy who is up for re-election right now when this issue is most intense," he said.

The views of Torontonians are closely reflected in the poll's national results, Mr. Bricker said. For example, 88% of Canadians and 89% of Torontonians cited gangs as a major factor causing gun violence.

Gangs were also the top concern for Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Residents of British Columbia and Atlantic Canada were more often worried about drugs and drug trafficking.

Despite increased concern about gun crime, 84% of Canadians disagreed with the statement: "More and more, I want to have a firearm in my household to protect my family and myself." The pollsters note, however, that the 16% of respondents who agreed with the statement represented close to four million adult Canadians.

The poll surveyed 8,336 Canadian voters via the Internet between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. It is considered accurate within 1.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.