Gun violence breaks ‘new records’ across Ontario, GTA

Violent gun crime continues to rise throughout Ontario, with reported shootings up significantly across the Greater Toronto Area and elsewhere.

In Hamilton, there have been 58 shootings as of November 4 — a record for the city.

“We're concerned. That is no secret. These are scary numbers,” said Staff Sgt. Steve Bereziuk, who leads the Hamilton Police Service’s shooting response team.

Statistics Canada data from 2022, the most recent statistics available, showed that “firearm-related violent crime” is higher now than in any year prior since they started tracking it in 2009.

In 2022, the rate of firearm-related violent crime was 36.7 incidents per 100,000 population, an 8.9% increase from 2021 (33.7 incidents per 100,000 population).

York and Toronto are also seeing significant increases, reported CBC News.

Since January, Toronto has seen 395 shootings — 126 more than the same period last year. Meanwhile, York had 63 shootings as of the end of October this year, a four-year high.

“The availability of firearms has just saturated the community,” Nishan Duraiappah, the chief of Peel Regional Police, told reporters on October 28, of which many are smuggled from south of the border

Bereziuk confirmed most firearms used in violent crime can be traced back to the U.S.

"That's something that the local police department has no control over and that's not something that we can enforce," he said.

Duraiappah said roughly 90% of firearms they seize can also be traced to America. “The remaining 10 per cent are likely also from the U.S.,” he said, noting their serial numbers were removed prior to confiscation.

Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ushered in the second anniversary of his “handgun freeze,” earning condemnation from police unions across Canada.

The Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights (CCFR) previously told Rebel News that the prime minister knows the “handgun freeze” does not address public safety.

“Any informed observer knows that the handgun freeze affected exclusively licensed gun owners, not the people shooting up the streets of Toronto,” said Rod Giltaca, CEO & Executive Director of the CCFR.

StatsCan analysts corroborated those remarks, stating, “… the firearms used in homicides were rarely legal firearms used by their legal owners who were in good standing.”

Handguns have long been classified as “restricted firearms,” which stipulates that they have to be either locked up at home, at a licensed gun range or lawfully transported with a permit. 

The October 2022 “handgun freeze” further toughened those measures by outlawing the “sale, purchase, and transfer” of handguns, but only those obtained legally.

WATCH: PM Trudeau "from today forward, it is no longer legal, to buy, sell, or transfer a handgun in Canada."https://t.co/fUAV0zMcV3pic.twitter.com/HuFTSGWdht

Jooyoung Lee, a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto, told CBC News the “handgun freeze” has done little to combat violent crime.

“The U.S. is the global exporter of crime guns. It has crime guns flowing into Canada, into Mexico, abroad into Asia, Europe, you name it,” he said, noting Canada has no control over that. 

Lee contends more could be done to secure Canada’s borders.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it has intercepted 887 firearms this year, as of October 15.

“Smugglers are increasingly utilizing more sophisticated concealment methods in smuggling attempts,” reads the statement.

CBSA officials work with their partners in policing to uncover illicit firearms, using handheld devices, X-ray machines, and detector dogs.

Alex Dhaliwal

Calgary Based Journalist

Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.