Four murders in Toronto in 24 hours.

That’s one of the headlines in this week’s  issue of The Caribbean Camera.

A stunning headline about frightening  news that  we do not normally associate with Canada’s largest and most ethnically diverse  city.

Time was when Caribbean immigrants would brag that Toronto was a  safe  city -far safer than some of the places from whence  they came such as  Port of Spain or  Kingston.

Some will no doubt insist that despite the current surge of gun violence, Toronto is still safer than some Caribbean capital cities.

But  clearly, Toronto is not what it was ten or twenty years ago and safety in the city is nothing to brag about.

Toronto  Police Chief Mark Saunders said  at a news conference on the weekend  that on average there have been five more shootings per month this year than last, with an average of one more person shot each month in 2018 than 2017.

He then went on to say that this was not catastrophic.

But four murders in 24 hours is still  alarming news  for a  place like Toronto.

And let us not lose sight of the fact that the people who lost their lives to  gun violence  on the weekend were not mere statistics.They were human beings doing things that normal human beings do.

One of them, Jenas Nyarko, a  31-year old woman, a native of  Ghana, was killed  on Sunday morning while in a car on her way home from a funeral.

Nyarko who came to Canada in 2001 and worked at a shelter, was not known to be involved  in any gang activity.

A Toronto homicide detective said there was  nothing in her past to suggest she would have been targeted by the shooter.

And, according  to the  police officer  there was nothing to  suggest that the three other people in  the vehicle with her might have been targets.

It seems that in today’s Toronto, any decent, law abiding citizen going about his or her everyday business, can be gunned down although the risks of being killed by a bullet may be greater in certain areas of  the city,

Clearly, the situation is getting worse.

We have addressed the problem of gun violence in editorials before and we may find it necessary  to return to this subject in the future,

As we previously pointed out, we need more than financial resources to  combat this problem.

Let us consider  what activist Louis March has been saying.

March, founder of the Toronto-based Zero Gun Violence Movement, has been a strong advocate for “greater action” to deal with gun and gang violence. Not just dollars.

And, on the weekend, he again put forward his suggestion -greater community involvement to deal with the problem.

Commenting on the surge in gun and gang violence in Toronto,  March told the Caribbean Camera  that ” the problem requires a coordinated effort where all the stakeholders come to the table to seek a coordinated response and coordinated solutions.”

And he believes that Toronto Mayor John Tory can play an important role in dealing with the problem by organizing a “gun and gang violence forum.”

Of course, it’s not a new idea,

March has been suggesting  such a forum for a long time.

And he would like to see ” all the stakeholders who are working to make Toronto a safe city”at the table.

He said the suggested forum must include ” police, corrections, justice systems,  education, academics, faith community, social service agencies, youth groups, victims of crime, people responsible for criminal activity, parent groups and social media experts. ”

We  do not know how the organizers of such a meeting will get people responsible for criminal activity at the same table with the police but  perhaps those who have given up on a life  of crime as gangsters may be persuaded to take part in such a forum.

They  may make a useful contribution to any discussion about solving  gun-related crimes.

We  wholeheartedly endorse  March’s suggestion about organizing a forum to address the problem,

It  may turn out to be an important initiative  in the ongoing battle  to make Toronto a safer place for everyone.

Earlier this year, after  a summit  in Ottawa to address the  problem of gun violence,   Ralph Goodale, the Minister of  Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said “we all need to work together to tackle these challenges and to implement solutions.”

As we said in a previous editorial – and it bears repeating – politicians alone cannot solve the growing problem of gun and gang violence.

But as March suggested, greater community involvement is needed to deal with the problem.