I’ve heard first hand about some wheelers and dealers in Toronto and their love of rock star nights on the town. Not to say that all patrons of Toronto’s fine venues are thieves and crooks, but not everyone can wine and dine themselves with $10,000+ diners and afford that lifestyle through legal means.

The Toronto Star has an interesting article regarding some drama after a night at Harbour 60. This article may shed some light on the lenient sentence Rahim Jaffer after facing charges of drunk driving and cocaine possession. Although Jaffer may have boasted insider influence in the past but the Conservatives are denying any ties to him at present.

As a whole it is disturbing how tough on crime we appear to be but how soft things are for white collar criminals. Time will tell whether any justice will be served. Unfortunately crime knows not of a recession.

A would be bike thief strolls casually at about 6pm Sunday at College & Beverley wielding a handsome hacksaw and a brown windbreaker and yellow shirt.

Yes, the recession is hitting hard. Bad news is abounds but Spring has finally sprung. I’ve been trying to enjoy the extra hours of daylight and walking whenever possible. Cabin fever no more!

Still the winter chill and ominous market conditions have frozen hearts. I was in disbelief yesterday night on my stroll along College. I heard an odd sound and noticed a man wielding a huge hacksaw and making his way through a big U-lock. Umm, I’m I the only one noticing that someone is trying to liberate what looks to be a nice mountain bike from in front of U of T?

No… but no one cares. Not the people coming off the street car, the woman walking her dog. Weird. I didn’t have my SLR with me but I decided to “spook” the perpetrator by taking his picture (with my crappy cell phone). It worked the dude moved on an scurried up the street. Yeah, one less bike in Toronto stolen. The funny thing was that when I started heading South the local thief had doubled back. The guy was off to find his next bike and was again walking in front of me on the other side of the street. As before the dude paused and was about to try his luck on another bike. I lingered a bit and then took my own detour after he moved on from victim two. I didn’t want to be hacksaw victim three so I did some scurrying myself.

Not only amazed that people are “forced” to steal but how many people didn’t care to report or discourage the would be thief. These are hard times and now more than ever we need a cure for apathy. Well, if you parked your bike on the North side of College East of the Second Cup your U-Lock lasted long enough for one person to care that your bike wasn’t stolen.

Good thing that Canadian Sport Shooting Association decided to withdraw their invitation to their Annual General Meeting And Dinner this April. I mean a gun special interest group that is inviting an Conservative MP could look a bit strange.

MP Garry Breitkreuz was invited to attend since he is, “a voice of reason in the House of Commons regarding firearms legislation”, according to Tony Bernardo, Executive Director of the Canadian Institute for Legislative Action had head of the CSSA. MP Breitkreuz’s private members bill and efforts to abolish the “long” gun registry strike a chord for the CSSA faithful.

The Canadian Sport Shooting Association (CSSA) Annual General Meeting and Dinner is to be held at the Best Western Toronto Airport West, 5825 Dixie Road, Mississauga April 18th. The most contentious issue is not the all you can eat buffet dinner of roast beef, chicken and salmon. Nor is it that Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz was invited only to have this offer rescinded. The negative media attention thus far is granted as the CSSA appears to be insensitive to the community.

While there are aproximately 2 million law abiding gun owners in Canada that doesn’t provide any excuse to wave a gun in Toronto’s face. The CSSA will be auctioning off a handgun at their AGM. Not just any gun, a Berreta Px4 Storm. This gun is just like the ones used by Canadian Border officials and law enforcement. The CSSA describes the gun as follows:

“the PX4 “Canadian Edition.” This is a very special “Limited Edition” of the
PX4 Storm and only 500 units were made, specifically for Canadian shooters.
Featuring a factory Beretta 106mm barrel and a 10 round magazine, this
previously “prohibited” pistol qualifies for “restricted” status”

Berreta handguns have been only available in Canada legally since 2005. There were little more than a handful of registered up until the Dawson College shooting. After this shooting registration of Berreta’s almost tripled. Were these buyers all criminals? Not necessarily but perhaps the “hype” was due to the fear that these guns could soon become more difficult to obtain or become banned.

The outrage expressed by the mayor’s office, citizens, families and victims of gun violence is warranted. The reality is that 30-40% of legal guns are getting into the hands criminals. The gun registry is not contributing to criminal activity nor can it be our only measure to reduce gun violence. Yes, it is true that the gun registry has cost over $2 billion dollars but this is largely due to some 2 million Canadian gun owners and gun manufacturers/lobbyists crying over registering their legal weapons. The Conservative government has had some talk of making restricted weapons harder to obtain but not too loudly. Their “tough on crime” stance is softer than they would care to admit.

The majority of people in Toronto back Mayor Miller’s push to make semi-automatic weapons illegal. If you are a good law abiding citizen, civic duty and respect to the community in which you live is not burden, it is a priviledge.