FIGHT BACK TO PROTECT OURSELVES FROM GANGS

Most Vancouverites would agree there was an air of unreality about the
shocking weekend shootout on Oak Street. It was like something out of
a grainy, Godfather movie, and not representative at all of life in
our scenic West Coast city.

There were the gangsters and their molls at a birthday bash at the
Best Neighbours Restaurant . . . a block away from the home of one of
its best neighbours, Mayor Gregor Robertson. And here was the gunman
lying in wait with an assault rifle.

Suddenly the night air was filled with sounds like firecrackers,
followed by the screams from one or other of the 10 victims. The blood
pooled on the street, as the restaurant owner, his wife and waitress
hid inside in a freezer.

Unlike in the movies, however, there was no old-school chivalry on
display early last Sunday. And no discrimination. Both men and women
were included as legitimate targets.

Three females were injured in this ambush, including one whose femur
was shattered. And one is tempted to suggest that the next birthday
party they attend they'll be more mindful of the kind of male company
they keep.

Doug Spencer, a former Vancouver police anti-gang squad member, put it
all into perspective. "There is absolutely no code or morals among
these young up and coming guys. They're hungry, they want money and
they'll shoot whoever's in their way," he was quoted in a CBC story as
saying.

No code, no morals, no conscience. That's the reality of the
continuing gang war in the Lower Mainland. And all of us had better
stop looking at the gang life, and the drug culture on which it feeds,
through a rose-coloured lens.

It's black and white: Our way of life is being held ransom by sick,
greedy gangbangers who have as little discipline as they have ethics.

Collectively, we have to start fighting back.

What do you think? Email a brief comment, including your name and town
to: provletters@theprovince.com.