December 29, 2005

Tragedy Politicized

The Yonge Street shootings are not a political issue. They did not result from anything you can pinpoint so easily. In the last day I have heard this tragedy blamed rather bizarrely on gun registration, immigrants, Paul Martin, and the futility of social programs. To add this to an already towering political platform would be gross and tacky, and out of respect for the dead and injured, no candidate should do so. The problem of gang violence in Toronto won’t be fixed by a snappy campaign slogan. These are the kinds of problems that won’t be fixed soon, by any kind of blanket solution. It will be a long, expensive road of tiny steps, but of course this sort of reality is never popular in the lalaland of politics.