Additional Funding to Support Toronto Police Service's Immediate Response to Increased Levels of Gun Violence and to Keep Communities Safe

That is why I brought all three levels of government together to provide $4.5 million to the Toronto Police Service to help fund additional initiatives to address the current violence. As you know by now, Chief Saunders has outlined, as appropriate, how those resources will be deployed. The other governments agreed to provide funding to support immediate police efforts to keep communities safe and to help redouble efforts to prevent criminal activity and combat the activities of street gangs. By way of this letter, I am asking the committee to approve a $1.5 million contribution to the Toronto Police Service's budget (our share of the $4.5 million total) in order to assist Chief Mark Saunders in the deployment of additional resources to help reduce further violent incidents. This additional funding is an important step in addressing a need to keep our streets safe. As Mayor I am continuing to work with my counterparts at the federal and provincial governments to obtain additional resources for the purposes of investing in communities to address the roots of violence and I continue, as agreed by City Council, to advocate for changes to our laws to strengthen penalties for those caught engaging in gun violence or gun trafficking. I look forward to working collaboratively with many of you during this term and beyond to continue to develop productive public policy tools that can reduce gun violence in our city.