COMMITTEE BACKS SCARBOROUGH COUNCILLOR'S SAFETY PLAN

A Toronto councillor's dream for a safer city is one step closer to reality.

Rookie Ward 37 Councillor Michael Thompson's (Scarborough Centre) action
plan to deal with drugs, gangs guns and violence received the backing of
the powerful policy and finance committee Thursday afternoon.

It was referred to city staff for a full report on how its ideas can be
integrated into what measures the city is already taking on crime prevention.

"We have a major problem in the city," said Thompson. "Guns, gangs, drugs
and violence are a major cancer in our city. We should make public safety a
top priority."

Thompson's plan calls for "co-ordinated actions and realistic, achievable
measures" through work with the federal and provincial governments, school
boards, social service agencies and the corporate sector.

In meeting with representatives from all those sectors, Thompson said "one
thing is clear, there's a real willingness to move forward on this in an
organized co-operative, well thought out way."

"Political leaders must come together," he added. "Work on the root issues
must take place. We have to deal with substance abuse and action is needed
to fight gangs and criminality."

His plan, which stems from concerns he heard during the recent municipal
election campaign, calls for a four-pronged approach and the establishment
of a permanent urban safety secretariat to co-ordinate crime reduction and
prevention measures.

The perception of increased crime comes despite statistics showing that
while gun use has increased, overall crime is actually on the decline.

Among the steps Thompson would like to see taken:

* Get all levels of government working together to create an action team.

* Attack the economic roots of crime by making access to schools and
recreational facilities easier and increase economic opportunities for youth.

"We must make sure the poorest communities aren't left out of our city's
prosperity. We need to involve our marginalized youth, but at the same time
we don't need to re-invent the wheel. We don't need boot camps when our
kids are using running shoes."

* Reduce drug addiction and its associated crime through substance abuse
programs.

"Behind the guns, gangs and violence on Toronto streets are drugs, plain
and simple. They're harming our community and we need to do everything
possible to reduce the demand."

* Curb gang activity.

CAO Shirley Hoy said she would send Thompson's plan through the city
channels and report back on its feasibility in April.

Mayor David Miller said that while Toronto remains one of the safest large
cities anywhere, there's always room for improvement.

"We have to look at things in the right context," he said in seeking
additional information on existing community safety programs.

"It's important for us to know what we can do and what we have been doing.
We need to see them as a package so we can know are we investing in the
right way and if our strategy is correct.

"If we are going to succeed as a council on these kinds of initiatives, we
have to put our resources where they're most effective and design programs
where they're most effective."

He said the best way to prevent crime is to "invest in people."

"My goal is that kids in any neighbourhood in Toronto should all have real
hope," he said.

"Their hope shouldn't be that if they join a gang that's the way they're
going to get ahead. I don't think it's unacceptable to allow some
neighbourhoods to exist in a way and be funded in a way that the kids there
don't have real hope," Miller said.

"It's wonderful here to make speeches, create committees, but for what?
Does that really make change on the street?" he asked. "It's real progress
to make change on the streets and often it's money."