I moved back to Toronto from Vancouver in 2010. I love this city – the people, culture, diversity and food! Since the pandemic though, it has taken a dark turn. Violent and hateful assaults have become common. I was the victim of a random assault while walking my dog last February.
Just yesterday, an elderly lady was pushed to the sidewalk and died. Also yesterday, there another attempted shoving of someone in front of a subway train at Yonge and Bloor, as well as a sexual assault at Kennedy Station. This is on the heels of a hate-motivated incident at Yonge and Bloor Station on Wednesday during the morning rush.
Just before Christmas, eight teenage girls swarmed and murdered a homeless man. They are also suspected of randomly assaulting people on the TTC that night. Also in December, a woman was stabbed to death in the High Park station.
In July, a woman was set on fire on a TTC bus near Kipling Station and later died of her injuries in an alleged hate attack.
As of right now, there have been 73 security incidents reported on the TTC’s Twitter account since January 1st. And those are just the ones being reported!
What do we hear from our Mayor, more hearts and prayers blah blah blah, more support for our police blah blah blah, we need more money from the province and feds for transit, mental health and every other issue blah blah blah. Never any real or meaningful action.
In fact, in his budget the Mayor is reducing service, meaning more packed subways, streetcars and buses. This will only lead to more frayed nerves and tension on transit as people are crowded into packed vehicles, inevitably leading to more violent incidents on the system.
It’s time that our strong mayor, showed some strength and take some decisive action to deal with these issues. I have rarely seen a special constable or fare inspector on the system which I take three days a week to the office, do errands and enjoy the city. If we don’t have enough of them, authorize overtime until we do. You don’t have to fine people, just remove them from the system or bring them to the services they need. Do what needs to be done to make the TTC the best transit system in North America again.
Today we see another example of what appears to be a random violent attack on an innocent person in our city – something that has become far too common in cities across Canada. pic.twitter.com/vBVwqLzPP2
— John Tory (@JohnTory) January 20, 2023
It’s time we get back to being Toronto the good.
