BuildTO
Active Member
I think he's proposing something along the lines of the War Measures Act in Quebec. Back then, with only two or three people killed, the Feds sent in hundreds of soldiers to ensure order. With about 13 gang-related murders in this one ward this year alone, I suppose he's hoping a LAV or two on the street corners might help.
The War Measures Act was what allowed my parents and grandparents (along with 20,000 other Japanese Canadians) to be rounded up and imprisoned indefinitely, without charge, without evidence, and without due process during WWII. (This is the same thing that happened during the October Crisis and is happening again today to Muslims in the current atmosphere of Islamophobia and the so-called "war on terror".)
If increasing law enforcement (number of officers per capita) were the answer, Americans should have the safest cities in the world. They don't, so clearly this is not the answer.
Having aimless youth all join the armed forces? I'm thinking about the three soldiers who beat that homeless guy to death in Moss Park for the fun of it. Some people join because they truly want to do something good for their country. Others join with more questionable motives. I don't think much good comes of putting people in there who don't have an intrinsic motivation.
These ideas are naive at best - in Mammoliti's case, half-baked and foolish. Tanks on the streets? Martial law? Curfew? Suspension of civil liberties? If the police, many of whom are familiar with the neighbourhood and the locals, can't overcome the gangs, how will a bunch of strangers with guns help?