ATTORNEY-GENERAL
MISSING THE MARK ON GUN CRIME
(Queen’s
Park) – Leeds-Grenville MPP and former Ontario Solicitor General Bob
Runciman today criticized Ontario’s Attorney General for showing that he
is not willing to take real action against the gun crime plaguing the
streets of Toronto.
“Michael
Bryant is demanding a ban on handguns, while foolishly boasting about the
level of gun crime in Toronto versus Chicago, obviously not realizing that
Chicago has had a handgun ban in place since 1982,” said Runciman.
According
to Lorrie Goldstein’s column in today’s Ottawa Sun, of the 5,194
homicides in Canada between 1997 and 2005, 118 (2.27 percent) were
committed with a registered gun, 63 (1.21 percent) were committed with a
gun registered to the accused murderer, and 111 (2.14 percent) were
committed by a person who held a valid firearms licence.
“Instead
of passing the buck to the federal government and making contradictory and
embarrassing comparisons, the Attorney General should be focusing on what
he can do as Ontario’s top lawyer to fight gun crime, including
determining the points of entry in this province of illegal handguns,”
Runciman added.
In
January 2006, after the summer dubbed by many as the “Summer of the
Gun”, Ontario’s Liberal justice ministers secretly planned to cut $339
million from the justice system. The “Justice Modernization” plan called
for fewer offenders to be charged, more people to be released on bail,
early release of prison inmates, and the closing of thousands of jail beds.
Cabinet voted down the plan, but only to avoid public backlash and
outrage.
“The
McGuinty Liberals are soft on crime, but hard on political rhetoric,”
said Runciman. “Both the Community Safety Minister and the Attorney
General voted against John Tory’s Bill 178, the
Truth and Transparency in the Justice System Act,
which would have required the Attorney
General to report annually to Ontarians on the justice system.”
