What Toronto and the DRC Have in Common

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second least developed country in the World. It is a tenuously Democratic country where political parties battle for control of the government not in election booths but in the streets with guns and tanks. It is a refugee producing country, with an armed conflict in the East which has claimed the lives of million. Enough food and running water are considered a blessing.

Toronto is the largest city in one of the top ten most developed countries in the World. It is a refugee receiving city, a low unemployment rate and a social safety net. Most of it's residents apathetically enjoy the benefits of living a secure and comfortable, if not privileged lifestyle.

It would seem that these two places are quite literally a World away from each other. Yet recently, they are suffering from the same problem; gun violence.

This week 12 people were shot late in the evening on July 18th at a street party in Toronto. Less than a month ago 7 people were shot at the Toronto Eaton Centre and two died. The response of the the Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments has been to call for stricter gun control and an increased police presence. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford went so far as to suggest people convicted of gun crimes should be deported or at the very least removed from the city (obviously he has no knowledge of the Constitution let alone the Charter). As nice as these things sound they reflect a tough on crime approach which is responsive and tries to regulate access to guns and restrict the people that use them. This is only half of the equation.

Community leaders in the Toronto community affected by the most recent shooting have called for more social programs, social housing and better resources for a community stretched thin by discrimination and poverty. This fact is often included as an after thought in news items and is seldom addressed by politicians, and yet it is an approach backed up by a great deal of reason.

The Small Arms Survey, a research organization focusing on armed violence in Geneva Switzerland has done a significant amount of research on the demand for small arms and light weapons and more recently armed violence and development. Both areas of research suggest that in order to reduce armed violence and gun crime, the reason that people acquire and choose to use weapons must be addressed alongside the laws that regulate gun ownership and the people who use them.

This assertion is supported on the research that I did for my M.A. thesis with Congolese refugees which suggested that lack of livelihood alternatives (needing to find a way to secure money and food, which in the case of Toronto might drive teens towards gang membership and in the DRC might drive men toward militia membership), lack of protection from authorities and inequalities were major factors contributing to the perceived need to use and own a weapon.

In order to address the demand for small arms/ hand guns, countries, provinces and municipalities must do is implement social programming which doesn't only cover the needs of the majority of people but particularly that reaches minorities, vulnerable people and those who commonly face discrimination. This can include library programs, after school programs, access to health care, more easily accessible social assistance and job training and more options for individuals seeking to leave street gangs behind.

Unfortunately the municipal and federal governments in Canada see little room for such programs in their "cut the gravy train, tough on crime" budgets despite the fact that such initiatives would actually make those programs more effective. The provincial government also seems to be skirting the issue by presenting it as a municipal problem and not a provincial one.

If we are to avoid further gun violence within our communities and our country we must entice our leaders to act to support people at risk in our society rather than continuing to pass through laws that pander to their perceived target audiences.