Over the Easter weekend, Ontario Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca stated that if elected, he will take steps to eliminate the wave of carjackings plaguing Toronto.
The leader has previously stated that he will prohibit the sale, possession, transportation, and storage of handguns in Ontario, as well as crack down on gun smuggling at the border, however few details regarding how this policy will be enforced have been disclosed.
On Saturday, Del Duca said that his administration would form a provincial auto theft task force to combat organized crime-related carjackings. Representatives from several police forces and crown prosecutors would make up the task committee.
“Every day, we’re seeing more and more brazen carjackings at gunpoint. It’s a frightening reminder that we need urgent action to get handguns off our streets,” Del Duca said in a statement.
“These brazen attacks are escalating and endangering the lives of families across Ontario – and the fear needs to end.”
This commitment was not initially included in the Liberal Party’s platform.
Del Duca made the pledge while standing at the corner of Islington Avenue and The Queensway in Etobicoke, the area where Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner was carjacked at gunpoint.
According to police, three suspects approached Marner’s vehicle around 7:45 p.m. Two of them were armed with guns and another had a knife.
Marner complied with the demands and was not physically injured, but he said the incident was “scary.”
Three armed carjackings occurred in Toronto on Wednesday in the span of two hours.
By Friday, Toronto Mayor John Tory said that there have been 93 carjacking incidents in the city so far this year. At this time in 2021, there were 21.
Toronto police confirmed that of the 93 carjackings, 64 were under the Hold Up Squad’s mandate and included weapons or violence.
Source_ The Canadian Press
