North York Mirror
The provincial government will be putting $20 million into programs to prevent youth violence — funding programs that will provide employment, expand policing and increase after-school programs — in the wake of the mass shooting on Danzig Street.
The plan, announced Wednesday, Aug. 22, by Ontario Children and Youth Services Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, is a broad-based plan touching on enforcement and prevention, and based on recommendations from the Roots of Youth Violence report, co-authored by former MPP Alvin Curling and Roy McMurtry in 2008.
Curling will become a special adviser to Hoskins on the program.
The program features several new investments, and the continuation of some others—notably the TAVIS (Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy) and PAVIS (Provincial Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy) programs, which will now be funded permanently.
CrimeStoppers rewards will be doubled when the tip leads to the prevention of gun violence.
The Summer Jobs for Youth Program will be expanded, to provide 320 new after-school jobs during the school year, increasing to 440 part-time jobs in 2013.
The ministry will also launch a private-sector jobs initiative, and will provide summer employment for 220 more young people through school board employment, providing summer recreation activities for another 3,500 more children and youth in the Greater Toronto Area.
After school programs will be strengthened, and the province will put $5 million a year into a Youth Opportunities Fund, that will support community initiatives in priority and disadvantaged neigbhourhoods.
The plan comes just a month after the mass shooting on Danzig Street, which saw two people killed and 24 people injured (23 by gunfire) when shots were fired during a street party July 16.
The plan received accolades from the New Democratic Party. Justice critic Jagmeet Singh said the implementation of the recommendations from the 2008 report was long ovedue.
“Ontario needs to move forward and implement these proposals,” he said. “For years the province has been studying these issues, we don’t want to see another report sit on the shelf so we’ll be paying close attention to these initiatives.”