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Duly Quoted: Rob Ford

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“We must use every legal means to make life for these thugs miserable, to put them behind bars, or to run them out of town. We will not rest until being a gang member is a miserable, undesirable life.”

—Mayor Rob Ford, in response to last night’s Danzig Street shooting. The full text of his statement follows.

Toronto is a safe city. It’s one of the safest cities in the world. Toronto is a great place to live and raise a family. It’s a great place to invest and create jobs. However, we cannot be complacent. We cannot stand by and watch criminals bring violence to our streets and backyards. It’s time for all of us to work together to keep our city safe.

The events of last night are heartbreaking. A fun, family-focused community event quickly turned into a violent nightmare. Two innocent young people are dead because some idiot thugs decided to settle a disagreement with violence. That is not acceptable in our city. I will not accept it. I am furious about it.

It’s time to say “enough is enough.” It is time to take action against the spineless cowards causing this violence.

This is about gangs and gang violence. Frankly, it doesn’t matter if they hurt people with guns or knives, bats or bricks. There is no room in Toronto for violent gangs.

Some people have suggested there is a gang war brewing. I don’t know if that’s true. But, I do know it’s time for us to declare war on these violent gangs.

Earlier today, I spoke with Premier McGuinty. I hope to meet with him in the near future to discuss how we can work together to combat gang violence. I will also be calling on the prime minister for his continued support as well.

We must use every legal means to make life for these thugs miserable, to put them behind bars, or to run them out of town. We will not rest until being a gang member is a miserable, undesirable life.

We will need your help to do this. And you can start helping right now. Hundreds of people were at the party Monday night. Dozens of people saw what happened. Many people know who the gang members are. We have the greatest police service in the world, but they need your help.

If you were at the party last night—or if you know anything at all that may help police arrest these criminals—I strongly encourage you to call 43 Division police at 416-808-4300. Or, if you want to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

We are all in this together. With your help, we will catch these criminals and get them off our streets.

Comments

  • Anonymous

    Wow, the big fat morons makes a proclamation-how amazing.

  • Anonymous

    Ah… you missed the good quote.

  • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

    Like on transit, his heart is in the right place, but he’s fixated on extremely expensive methods with dubious effectiveness.

    • Anonymous

      “his heart is in the right place”

      Um… how do you reckon?

    • dlk

      ” his heart’s in the right place”… ummm, how does this make an ounce of difference when he has zero credibility and less than zero political capital. The guy’s a complete lame duck with nothing constructive to add to city-building let alone issues on crime— THIS is the LONE councillor who voted against FREE federal money to fight gangs from the feds…

      he’s a complete moron…

      • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

        Usually on Ford stories I comment with a single word, “Resign.” Don’t mistake me for a cheerleader.

        But—he vaguely wants better transit (that’s out of the way of cars) and vaguely wants infants not to be shot in the head. If people want to incorporate him into a solution (and to be clear, the city’s government is not functioning as designed when he has to be sidelined, and it’s to be lamented each time that’s necessary), that minimal common ground has to be the point of departure, rather than his very poor choice in go-to solutions.

        • Anonymous

          “and it’s to be lamented each time that’s necessary”

          It’s a feature, not a flaw, that council can circumvent the mayor when the mayor is incompetent at, or uninterested in, doing his job.

          • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

            It’s a damage-control mechanism. If the seatbelts of a car are frequently necessary, something is wrong—not with the car, but with how it’s being used.

          • Anonymous

            I’m not so sure. Ford’s absenteeism has made me wonder what we even need a mayor for. We don’t have parties, he doesn’t do the ceremonial or representative stuff he should be doing, and between him and Miller it seems the role of mayor is to alienate as many councillors as possible until the backlash happens, so why do we need a mayor?

          • Anonymous
          • Vampchick21

            Bad analogy. Seatbelts are indeed frequently necessary, by law. Actually, ALWAYS necessary.

          • http://paul.kishimoto.name Paul Kishimoto

            I meant in the sense “necessary to keep one from being rattled around the inside of one’s vehicle like a pinball, or ejected through the windshield, when the vehicle undergoes violent motion.” When driving safely, they are not necessary in this sense.

            Feel free to substitute whatever word you feel better conveys this meaning. The analogy is fine.

  • Anonymous

    “Dozens of people saw what happened. Many people know who the gang members are. We have the greatest police service in the world, but they need your help. I just want to stress, though, that if you are a member of the police, you are above the law, and you do not need to report any criminal wrongdoing on your part, or that you may have witnessed being perpetrated by fellow officers. You have the right to remain silent, and if you choose to remain silent, you (and they) will get off scot free, free to commit even more crimes, as many as you want. And I will have no public statements to make about it.”

    • Cyberytb

      omg your stupid

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

      well, well, mr dsmithhfx.. you are showing yourself to part of the problem, and not part of the solution. Are you hiding these spineless, gutless shooters??? How you can compare people dying and even a toddler getting grazed on the head to some police action is beyond me. There is no lower form of humanity than yourself. Give your head a shake man…move on… get over it… be a part of the solution, not just a thorn in everyones side

      • Anonymous

        Bill! Are you Drunk and On Drugs Happy? Just wondering!

  • Anonymous

    And we also won’t rest until we’ve defunded any and all non-miserable, desirable alternatives.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

      right…nice solution there…you are right, throwing millions of dollars into programs will stop all senseless gun violence and stop gang activity. They will all throw down their arms, say no to drugs and all will be well in the world…. sure thing!

      • John Duncan

        It won’t stop all senseless gun violence, or all gang activity. But, to be honest, no matter how much we all want a world free of this crap, there will always be some amount of violence.

        As such, we need police, but it’s much more effective (and affordable) to get to people with alternatives before they join a gang, than to try to arrest and jail everyone when it’s too late.

      • Anonymous

        So your proposal is that the gang problem can be solved without spending any money?

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

          No, but money will not help. There is no solution I don’t think. Young boys/men need a father-figure while growing up and today, in a lot of cases does not exist. Not only black, but white men impregnate women and then disappear forever so the women ends up on pogy trying to bring up a young boy. Men are difficult enough to bring up WITH fathers let alone without. Hence the boys look to gangs to feel involved. Don’t know what to do here…you can’t tell people not to have kids I guess………..

          • Vampchick21

            umm….you can utilize the very programs funded by *gasp* money to provide the kids with alternatives to gangs. Think. Think. Think.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

            well, David”tax&spend” Miller threw 78 million bucks originally, now it’s about 130million bucks into the usual hold-my-hand, there, there, you did not get your ice-cream in grade school” social programs for kids and guess what????? Everything is the same…it did not work! What does work is police work, and that means getting them out of their cars and walking thru all of these areas getting to know etc etc etc..After the Malvern gang wars in 2006 or so, that’s exactly what the cops did and we had over 140 arrests, lots of jail time and that area is much much safer now…that’s what will work…. enough of this socialist ‘don’t hurt feeling’ ‘pat on the head’ leisurely BS..time to get real boys & girls…….

          • Anonymous

            “well, David”tax&spend” Miller threw 78 million bucks originally, now it’s about 130million bucks”

            Imagine how much worse it would be…

            ” the usual hold-my-hand, there, there, you did not get your ice-cream in grade school” social programs”

            Nice one, you entitled asshat. Grow up in a ghetto and get back to us.

          • Vampchick21

            Sigh. The homicide numbers alone tell us that yes, to a degree, social programs DO work. And yes, when necessary, police should arrest/walk the beat/have their own community programs like the example you just gave. Don’t sit there and turn into my neo-con dad, ok? It’s not as black and white as you think. What works perfectly for one kid isn’t going to work for the other, but just because of that fact does not mean that we have to take away what does work for some. Otherwise, those kids are just as screwed.

          • Esra

            Wouldn’t a lot of the programs selonmoi is talking about help provide good male role models? Whether it’s a sports or arts or Big Brothers style program, it would help be an alternative to gang life.

          • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

            No, the experiment has been tried and failed. It did not work t all. Gang/gun activity keeps growing. We are just throwing money away. Time for a new approach

          • Esra

            Do you have anything to back that up? Big Brothers/Big Sisters have had sample studies done to gauge effectiveness, for example. You don’t seem to be citing anything other than your own kneejerk opinion.

          • Vampchick21

            It works for some. Therefore, it should continue and new approaches added to help those the current doesn’t work for. Learn, adjust, expand. Don’t screw the kids it works for by taking it away.

          • MK

            I’m sorry, is pumping millions into new jails, more police and mandatory minimums the ‘new approach’ you’re hinting at?

      • Anonymous

        Bill! will you say “no to drugs”, or are you “drunk and on drugs happy”?

        Well, Bill, which is it?

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Paul/100002519071197 William Paul

          no idea what the heck you are trying to say…. either you need a translator or you must be a druggie then. so good luck with your life. when you wish to be a part of the solution give a call.

  • Elizchristy

    Brutally disheartening Mr Mayor.

  • Anonymous

    Rob Ford is no Bruce Wayne. What’s he going do? Maybe he’ll just hop into his Fordmobile with his sidekick, Doug The I Wonder, and hand out his business cards.

    • Anonymous

      Everyone go on down to Decco Label for a job!

  • Jacob

    Isn’t a “miserable life” one of the things that leads to kids joining gangs?

    • Vampchick21

      Probably. And I’m guessing that joining one doesn’t lead to an unmiserable life, given that they live in fear of their lives every single day. They might be in gangs, but they’re still human beings, with emotions. I can’t imagine that they don’t have fear in their heart 24/7 because of the lifestyle they chose.

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