VIOLENCE PROBE WORTHY

A long hot summer lies ahead and the death toll from gun crime in
Toronto's troubled neighbourhoods is already climbing. The shooting
of Jordan Manners, 15, three weeks ago was followed by the killing of
Jose Hierro-Saez, 19, shot while driving Saturday in the Jamestown
area. He was the 16th person felled by bullets in Toronto this year.

Queen's Park has responded by appointing a two-person panel to study
what might be done to ease youth violence. This is a worthwhile
effort, although it is already clear there are no simple ways to
prevent some young people from falling into a world of guns, gangs and drugs.

Former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry and former Liberal MPP
Alvin Curling are to conduct the probe. Critics have attacked the
panel, claiming with some validity that the roots of violence have
already been extensively researched. Instead of yet another study
panel, they want more action now, especially against poverty.

It would be unfair to claim nothing is being done in response to
Toronto's recent spate of gun deaths. Police investigations are
underway. Community leaders are united in their calls for justice.
And the province is paying $4 million to keep schools in vulnerable
communities open during the summer to provide recreation, training and jobs.

Still, the frustration of critics is understandable. There have
already been at least 10 commissions, probes and official reports
into race relations, violence and policing in Toronto or in Ontario.
A cynic might say naming yet another panel to explore this territory
has more to do with politics than a search for new information.

To prove these critics wrong, McMurtry and Curling must be unsparing
in tracing the causes of youth violence and in proposing actions that
can be adopted immediately, not months or years from now. They need
to look at societal factors, such as the apparent decline of family
cohesion in troubled communities, the role of systemic racism in
denying many people access to jobs and education opportunities, and
the way poverty corrodes so much that it touches.

By asking hard questions, McMurtry and Curling just might produce
some useful answers. All Ontarians should hope that they succeed.