CONCERTED EFFORT NEEDED TO END GANG WARFARE

Montrealers can sympathize with residents in Toronto and Edmonton as
both those cities find themselves grappling with a sharply increased
number of gang-related killings.

By the time Quebec's notorious drug wars were over, more than 160
people had been killed. That murderous toll included 11-year-old
Daniel Desrochers, who died after being hit by shrapnel from a car
bomb while he was playing outside his home.

The idea that anyone, no matter how innocent, no matter where they
happen to be, can get caught in the crossfire of gang warfare is
deeply unsettling.

Yet according to Statistics Canada, the spike in the national murder
rate in 2005 was driven, in fact, by gang-related homicides.
Handguns, easier to hide while riding public transit than long guns,
have become the weapon of choice. Guns were used in 222 of Canada's
658 homicides last year, an increase of 49 gun-related killings over 2004.

Once Quebec finally woke up to the havoc created by the increasingly
ferocious battle over the drug trade, police at both the provincial
and municipal levels were given enough resources to take on the
traffickers. The once invincible crime bosses, including Hells Angels
chieftain Maurice (Mom) Boucher, today languish in federal prison,
unlikely to enjoy freedom for decades.

Adequate resources and a determination to put an end to gang warfare
are essential to any city regaining control over its public spaces.
Tragically, it too often takes a spectacular killing to galvanize a
city, and its police force. For Toronto, that killing took place near
the Eaton Centre in the heart of the downtown, on Boxing Day, as
crowds of shoppers surged across the streets.

As rival gang members shot it out, 15-year-old Jane Creba was killed,
becoming Toronto's 52nd gun victim in 2005. That total was nearly
double the city's 27 gun-related homicides in 2004.

In Edmonton, meanwhile, the other capital of gang-related deaths in
Canada, three men were killed at a pre-Halloween party Oct. 28 in a
downtown club. Those murders bring the number of homicides in
Edmonton to date this year to 32.

Although gun-related homicides are still below the numbers in the
early 1990s, and quite a lot lower than Canada's peak year, 1975, the
spectre of an illegal gun trade spiralling out of control is frightening.

Since 2000, for example, Toronto police have seized more than 5,400
weapons that have been smuggled into Canada from the United States.
Police are reported to believe the 5,000-plus weapons are barely a
fraction of the weaponry that is in fact being brought across the border.

Toronto Mayor David Miller has blamed the U.S, telling officials
there, according to reports, "The system you have in place in the
U.S. is causing violence to be exported to my city."

In Toronto, police estimate half the guns seized in criminal
investigations originate in the United States. In the case of
Vancouver, police place the figure much higher, at more than 90 per
cent. Toronto and Vancouver police are reported to have arrived at
these estimates by tracing the ownership of guns they seized in
criminal investigations.

Justice Minister Vic Toews used the StatsCan figures to justify his
get-tough approach for gun- and gang-related offences. Stiffer
sentencing is fine as far it goes. But it should be seen as one
measure among many, equally necessary ones. Better border controls,
and more police resources are also needed.