Crime's only a blip on the campaign radar so far

By Mia Rabson
Canwest News Service

When the leaders of the major national parties breezed through the Greater Toronto Area on Wednesday, none of them talked about crime. (Bryan McBurney/Canwest)

TORONTO - In broad daylight Tuesday afternoon on Canada's busiest freeway, a 29-year-old man was shot and then tossed into traffic from a moving car.

It was a brazen and shocking murder that made national headlines. But when the leaders of the major national parties breezed through the Greater Toronto Area on Wednesday, none of them talked about it. In fact, none of them talked about crime at all.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton both talked about the economy, and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion focused on women's issues and food safety.

It's a far cry from the last election, when the Boxing Day shooting of 15-year-old Jane Creba in downtown Toronto became a turning point of the campaign.

In the months before Harper called for this election, his party plastered opponents' ridings with flyers claiming crime is out of control and explaining what the Tories planned to do about it.

But so far in this campaign, Harper's only real tip to the issue was a response to a reporter's question at a scrum Thursday in Montreal. All he said was, in effect, "stay tuned.

It may be a sign that issues like the economy and the environment have surpassed crime on voters' list of political priorities. It may also be a reflection of the fact that crime is down.

In 2007, the crime rate in Canada dropped for the third consecutive year. In Toronto, since the number of murders peaked in 2005, overall violent crime is down significantly. 

But Rev. Don Meredith, who ran for the Conservatives in Toronto Centre in a byelection earlier this year, said crime has got to get more attention in the campaign.

"Given the incidents just this week, it's clearly a top-of-mind issue," said Meredith, a pastor who works with at-risk kids to try and keep them out of gangs.

"Clearly it is something politicians need to take seriously."

Liberal MP Judy Sgro, who is seeking re-election in York West, said crime overall is falling but assaults seem to be getting bolder and more shocking, like the event on the 401 this week.

That shooting occurred in Sgro's northwestern Toronto riding. "These are things you'd never imagine would happen in our city," she said.

Sgro said Liberals want to invest more in border protections and anti-smuggling initiatives to keep guns from crossing into Canada. She said there need to be plans to help parents deal with kids before they get into gangs in the first place.

"We need to invest in youth empowerment," said Sgro. "We need mentors, education. They key to all of this is education."

Sgro and Meredith agree on one thing - the key is getting rid of the guns. In the 1990s, guns were involved in about half of the country's murders. Now it's closer to two-thirds.

Earlier this week, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion pledged a Liberal government would support a coroner's recommendation for a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles like the one used in the deadly school shooting at Dawson College in Montreal in 2006.

Harper dismissed that, saying most guns are already severely restricted.

Since the last election, the Tories passed a law introducing mandatory sentences for gun crimes. Meredith said giving kids alternatives to crime is the way to beat the problem.