TIME TO GET TOUGH, TORY SAYS

Opposition Leader Wants Crackdown On Drugs, Gangs

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory told top police leaders
yesterday it's time to get tough on drugs and gang activity in our
province.

Speaking at the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police conference
yesterday, Tory said drugs and gangs are driving forces behind crime
and it's time to do something about it.

"We simply have to stop this cancer in our society by getting serious
about drugs and about drug offences," he said at Waterloo Inn.

This means it's time for more serious penalties to be imposed within
the justice system. If his party is elected to government, Tory said
people can count on a call for mandatory minimum sentences for drug
offenders. He also said he will work to keep more dangerous offenders
behind bars.

"We cannot respect the always-hard, often-dangerous work that police
officers do as long as our justice system releases those charged with
dangerous offences back onto our streets."

This "catch and release" form of justice "works fine for fishing but
doesn't work with gun crime," he said.

If elected, Tory said he plans to assign special prosecutors to put
dangerous offender orders in place.

He is also in favour of video remands in the court system that would
save time and money and a tougher stance on bail violations and
sentencing deals that are commonly offered in the justice system.

Tory noted his government would offer "no deals" when it comes to any
crime involving guns.

Premier Dalton McGuinty spoke Monday at the conference, stating he is
in favour of a handgun ban.

But Tory said after his speech yesterday that such a ban wouldn't
necessarily get to the root of the problem.

"Cocaine is banned too, but there's still people who seem to have
it," he said.

"I think what we have to do is try to cut off the supply, and most of
the supply of the guns used in most of these crimes is coming across
the border.

"We seem to spend a lot of time and effort and money tracking down
bottles of wine and boxes of cigars in people's suitcases at the
border and not as much time as we might really trying to choke off
the supply of guns into Ontario and Canada."

He said stopping this supply along with discouraging kids from
picking up guns at an early age is the answer.

As Toronto becomes more successful in getting guns off their streets,
more show up in neighbouring cities, Tory said.

"This is a problem across Ontario. There are cities now where you
never would have heard of a charge involving someone with a loaded
gun being found in the downtown streets. Now, it's routine.

"We have to wake up and deal with it before it becomes routine
everywhere that people are being shot on the street as you've seen
happening in Toronto."

Tory also told police leaders his government would get tough on
highway offences, including street racing.

"Many of these road-related crimes are leading to the deaths of more
people than even guns and gangs," he said.