Battle of the big city mayors

Mirror mirror on the wall Who’s the silliest mayor of all? The recent shooting of a 17-year-old boy on a Toronto bus is the latest in what seems to be a rash of violence on the city’s transit system. Since 2009 began there has been a shooting on a subway platform, a stabbing at a bus terminal and two young teens were pushed onto the subway tracks, barely escaping death, in a random act committed by a stranger.

---

In predictable fashion, after the shooting of the 17-year-old Toronto mayor David Miller again reiterated his call for a handgun ban. He just loves calling for a ban. For those who really think that implementing a handgun ban is the way to go, the blood of the victim in the recent bus shooting is on city council’s hands. If a ban was really that important, Toronto would have implemented it already and the youth would not have been shot because the shooter would not have been able to obtain a gun. Guns would have been banned don’t you know. Perhaps Toronto City Council can be forgiven; these are bad economic times and the city mothers are way too busy discussing whether or not to ban dogs from Toronto’s beaches to worry about guns and violence and stuff. But even after all of this, Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel is giving David Miller a run for his money in the silly department. After two recent fatal stabbings in the Alberta city, Mayor Mandel is suggesting a ban on large knives. It’s hard to believe that the Edmonton mayor has actually topped the Chief Magistrate and Panhandler of the centre of the universe. David Miller at least has the argument that handguns are designed for one purpose and only one purpose only; to kill. Mandel’s proposal to ban certain knives is ridiculous even by Toronto and Ontario standards, where banning has been turned into an art form. It is so trite that it really doesn’t have to be said but knives, yes even big ones, have a lot of legitimate purposes. If the city of Edmonton carries through with the mayor’s proposal resources will have to be spent on knife police, whose motto will undoubtedly be “size does matter”. They will be constantly raiding restaurants, kitchen supply stores and other business premises looking for illegal knives. What will the effect of a large knife ban be on the bad guys?  Well, we are now in terrible economic times where a lot of people are just going to have to get by with less. Everybody is downsizing. They’re just going to have to get used to stabbing people with smaller weapons. Ontario Liberal backbencher Michael Colle introduced a private member’s bill in the Ontario legislature in the wake of the most recent bus shooting that would provide increased penalties for those who carry weapons or commit violence on a transit system. Although critics were quick to argue that the bill is probably unconstitutional because it deals with criminal law and is therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the province, Colle is at least on the right track. Holding criminals responsible for their actions is preferable in a democratic society to taking away the rights of law abiding citizens. But as Colle is no doubt finding out, coming up with a fair solution is not easy. Banning on the other hand is simplistic; whenever something in society goes wrong, ban something and the problem is solved. Stephen Mandel should be complimented for coming up with a dumber ban than David Miller and Dalton McGuinty ever could. We know the west wants in; but David, you’re just going to have to try harder.

---