A Toronto Police Service forensics officer inspects the scene of a shooting in Toronto on July 10.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Two people were wounded in a downtown Toronto shooting on Monday in what police say appeared to be a case of road rage, the latest in a string of violent incidents in the city over the past week.
On the same day as the shooting, the country’s premiers gathered in Winnipeg for a three-day meeting that will cover a range of issues, such as public safety, and calls from several leaders, including Ontario’s Doug Ford, for bail reform in response to concerns about violence and crime.
Monday’s shooting took place around 6 a.m., shortly after police received a call regarding stunt driving on Yonge Street involving multiple vehicles, Inspector Michelle Olszevski told reporters at the scene. Police believe the people who participated in the stunt driving were gathered outside a building on Charles Street, just west of Yonge Street, when a black SUV drove by and fired several shots.
Olivia Chow, who will take office as Toronto’s mayor on Wednesday, said the issue of public safety will be a top priority for her.
“People in our city deserve to be safe,” Ms. Chow told reporters on Monday. “The challenge before me when I become mayor is to find ways to end that violence and all types of violence in our city so tragedies like this one do not happen.”
Ms. Chow also expressed her condolences to the family of a 44-year-old woman who was killed by a stray bullet during a daytime shooting last Friday at a busy intersection in Toronto’s east end. Karolina Huebner-Makurat was walking in the area of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue when she was caught in a gunfight between two men in the area, police said in a news release over the weekend.
Ms. Huebner-Makurat had two daughters, aged 7 and 4, according to a GoFundMe campaign organized by friends of the family.
That shooting took place a day after a man was seriously injured in a stabbing on a subway train, which was captured on a video widely circulated on social media. Police said two men got into an argument and a physical altercation ensued, during which the victim was stabbed multiple times. The attacker fled the scene when the train stopped at Eglinton station.
Police subsequently arrested Moses Lewin, 25, who has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and two counts of failing to comply with a release order. Mr. Lewin was out on bail at the time, Toronto police spokesperson Stephanie Sayer said in an e-mail. He failed to comply with release conditions prohibiting him from attending Eglinton station. Mr. Lewin is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, who is hosting the premiers’ meeting this week as chair of the Council of the Federation, has identified public safety and bail reform as a top issue for the gathering.
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“We know that violent crime has been a challenge in Manitoba, so public safety will also be discussed,” she said during a news conference Monday afternoon.
Ms. Stefanson said last week the group will continue to push Ottawa to make changes to the bail system and is disappointed Bill C-48 did not become law before summer break.
Ottawa introduced the “targeted” bail reform bill this spring that places a “reverse onus” on serious repeat violent offenders and those facing firearms or other weapons-charges – which means they would have to prove why they should be released on bail – but it has yet to pass. Diana Ebadi, press secretary for Justice Minister David Lametti, issued a statement that urged the Opposition Conservatives to work with the government to ensure the legislation passes when Parliament returns in the fall.
However, advocates and civil liberties groups including the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies cautioned Monday that recent changes to the bail system proposed by the federal government won’t make society safer but will rather punish people who have not been able to access justice and are awaiting trial.
“Recent and dangerous discourse on bail reform is pushing law and policy in a direction that will harm rather than protect Canadians by further restricting access to an already onerous bail system,” said Emilie Coyle, executive director of the CAEFS, which advocates for women and non-binary people caught up in the criminal justice system.
Hunter Kell, a spokesperson for Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, said Monday that the individuals and families affected by the recent “heinous crimes” in Toronto are in the province’s thoughts and he repeated the government’s calls for bail reform and the passage of C-48.