In less than a month after the turn of the year there were 18 shootings in the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia. This onerous level of gang related violence is erupting into war in the streets and this is unacceptable to the Canadian public. As a result the Government of Canada is passing legislation to deal with rising gang violence on the west coast and elsewhere in Canada.
The explosion of violence in the past month in Vancouver (and elsewhere) made the government act because MPs are hearing the fear of citizens who find themselves living in war zones in Canada's streets.
An M.P. from the Lower Mainland of B.C. said, "When you have ordinary people being shot in the street it feels like a war zone. Maybe it was excessive language but governments have to come together to deal with the situation."
The M.P. said, "During the break-week (over Christmas and New Year) I happened to be sitting in my office (in Surrey, B.C.) talking to constituents while a shooting was taking place three blocks away." He added, "One hundred and ten young men have been lost to violence in recent years."
The M.P. said, "There was a lull a few years ago but in the past two or three years it has escalated." He said governments need to work together to address problems in law enforcement and corrections.
It has become painfully obvious that a turf-war is underway in Greater Vancouver. The escalation is so dramatic that the time has come for all M.P.'s to work together. One expert said that gang violence has been "fermenting" for the past 20 years in Canada.
"The Vancouver area is the organized crime capital of Canada, and it is fuelled by the drug trade." The expert said there are about 1,100 gangs in Canada. Gang members start in street gangs and graduate into organized crime. Drugs are the main source of gang-related activity.
The turf wars in B.C. are related to an $8 to $10 billion drug trade in Canada's westernmost province, which "has become a 'source country' for drugs like methamphetamine and 'B.C. bud,'" (marijuana, usually grown in grow-ops).
The expert noted the drug trade is playing out on the street and that Canada lacks a coherent, consistent approach to tackling gangs. What draws the youth into gangs? The expert said, "The common factor is social. If they are not engaged in sports, recreational activities, school or cultural activities the gang offers things that the country is failing to do."
He added, "Prevention and intervention is the key and until we deal with it we will see violence growing." With all this news in the background Hon. Rob Nicolson, Justice Minister of Canada, stepped forward in Ottawa on Feb 26, 2009, and proposed legislative solutions.
"This is the next step in fighting crime in Canada. We have made great strides in protecting Canadians," and now the government proposes tougher sentencing and bail conditions for violent crime.
Nicolson said, "We have increased penalties for street racing, and ended conditional sentences and house arrest. We have addressed the impact of organized crime activities. It is time to protect our law enforcement officials and their men on the front lines."
New legislation deals with gang murder, drive by shootings, and protection of police. The justice minister has called for first degree murder charges for gang-related murders, a degree that includes life sentences and 25 years without eligibility for parole.
A major part of the new broad-based offensive is to target drive by shootings. The minister said in his news conference, "Gang violence has erupted in Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg," and he recalled the Boxing Day shooting in Toronto. He cited recent bombings by gangs in Quebec.
Mandatory four year to 14 year sentences will apply to those convicted of drive by shootings, the minister said, and he has proposed higher minimum sentence for handguns and restricted firearms. The government is getting particularly tough on those who practice intimidation tactics on those who work within the justice system.
"You will receive 10 years for attacking police, and 14 years for aggravated assault on police." This is a new offense introduced into the criminal code and the minister called it a further step in the government's 'Tough on Crime' agenda.
"We are sending out the right message to people that this kind of activity will not be tolerated." The minister promised, "We are not done yet." The minister noted that, "what is happening with the economy and increased public expressions of concern have caused us to act. We are spending money to reach out to young people to deal with the drug issues."
A few editions ago Crime Watch Canada Magazine reported that Vancouver was undergoing a gang war and that Greater Vancouver police forces had decided to unify efforts to fight the rise in organized crime and gang violence. They had launched a task force composed of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), municipal departments, and the RCMP.
Vancouver's Violence Suppression Team (VST) was an initiative to counter increasingly brazen 'targeted hits' in the streets, in restaurants, and at homes, in fact anywhere, and occurring at unpredictable hours of day or night.
The task force was struck because gang violence and 'targeted shootings' were out of control, and this was in the summer of 2007. VPD Chief of Police Jim Chu announced the special initiative to form the largest street-level gang violence task force in the history of B.C..
The task force was formed at a time when police were publicly dismissing suggestions of an out-and-out gang war, which dismissal was obviously premature since the escalation has continued unabated. At the time CWC Magazine reported estimates of over 100 gang slayings being counted in recent years.
Dangerous events like these street shootings are indicative of cultural conflict but also reflect differences in status regarding money and social alienation. Gangs come from all walks of society and the problems for Vancouver differ from problems in Toronto or Montreal, Winnipeg or Edmonton.
In Toronto youth are shot up in attacks by black gangs that operate from three major camps: Bloods and the Crips operate side by side with the so-called Jamaican posse. In the Vancouver area gangs include the Independent Soldiers - primarily Indo-Canadian members; UN Gang - mostly Indo-Canadians, Asians, and Persians. In Montreal there are Haitian and Jamaican gangs.
In Calgary and Edmonton are Asian gangs FOB (Fresh off the Boat, although many members born in Canada), FK (Fresh off the Boat Killers), Crazy Dragons, Crazy Dragon Killers. In Winnipeg there is an African street gang called the Mad Cowz and an Aboriginal gang called the Indian Posse.
According to expert criminology sources in the U.S., an ideal task force investigation puts the entire gang under observation, from the street level thugs and dealers up through the crew leaders and ultimately the gang's command structure. With this level of scrutiny involved the government's move to protect the observers makes a lot of sense.
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