Thank you.
Chief Blair, thank you for attending today.
Of course, Toronto isn't the only place in the country. There are lots of other cities and places with difficulties with crime. It is notable that the spike in firearm violence that occurred over the last year and a half appears to have conspicuously been reduced to the point where, the last time I checked earlier this month, the number of firearm homicides had dropped to 44% from last year. The woundings dropped 19% or 20% and the shootings were down 20%. So something right is happening under the existing law. Obviously, a big portion of it has to be attributed to the Toronto police.
I will add something to your remarks. I live in 42 Division, just north of where you live, I think. And 42 Division includes Malvern, but not the Galloway region.
The last time I spoke with Superintendent Ellis, he noted that, based on the serious crime index used by the force, 42 Division in north Scarborough had the lowest crime rate in all of the city of Toronto, including Rosedale. So that is a huge difference, which can only be attributed.... It wasn't the weather and it wasn't the diet; it was the police. So I want to give credit to the force and all of the creative ways they have found, using the existing law, to address spikes in crime or community crime.
You mentioned bail as being at least a visual problem. It's perhaps part of the denunciation envelope. In other words, when people see someone who has been charged with a crime come out a couple of days later, pending a trial, maybe they get scared; maybe it doesn't look right. This bill doesn't address bail, but it does address, with some certainty, criminals off the street.
Could you tell me what components of this bill appeal to you in terms of its ability to take people who can be identified as threats off the street?