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TTC safety: Toronto mayor, police chief, transit chief hold press conference amid rising violence

A recent series of violent and sometimes random incidents on the TTC prompted police to convene a press conference on Thursday to address transit safety.

Sheriff Myron Demkiw will join Mayor John Tory, as well as TTC CEO Rick Leary for the 1:30 p.m. announcement, which will be broadcast live on CTV News Toronto and the CTV News app.

The event took place over a weekend rife with violence against TTC property, including but not limited to a woman being hit by a stranger on a tram and leaving fatal injuries, two employees Transporter is chased a subway station by a suspect armed with a syringe and a 16-year-old boy is seriously injured after being slashed on a bus.

On Wednesday, the president of the union representing about 12,000 transit workers in Toronto said incidents of violence against workers and passengers on the TTC, as well as nationally, had reached “crisis levels.” and called for the establishment of a National Transport Safety Task Force.

“The increase in violence is becoming increasingly problematic…Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time before these injuries become catastrophic and begin to take lives. We need to act now, not tomorrow, but now,” John Di Nino, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Canada, said in an interview.

As for the mayor, Tory said he was “shocked” by the violence online and said more needed to be done to tackle what he described as the “mental health crisis” unfolding in the city. city.

“The lack of mental health support certainly contributes to some of the problems we are seeing in cities across the country,” Tory said in a statement released on Wednesday. “Some of this could be due to the experience of the pandemic, and it is time for us to take a close, urgent look at this possible cause and effect.”

With that, he said he has called on the prime minister and prime ministers to come up with better solutions together.

Toronto Mayor John Tory, speaks during a news conference while inside Queen’s Park in Toronto, Monday, June 27, 2022. CANADIAN REPORT / Cole Burston

In an interview with CP24 on Wednesday, Leary did not say whether he felt the system was safe for workers and riders.

“People know that we move millions of people every day, but when these serious incidents happen—and they have become more serious over the last few days as we know them—it really raises the bar for the most part. safety issue with TTC,” he said. “We’re talking to our customers, we’re talking to our staff about what we can do to make it safer, and taking immediate action in some cases and then later. longer-term actions in other cases.”

Earlier this month, the TTC Board of Directors approved a proposed $2.38 billion budget, which includes millions of dollars to hire new special officers to improve passenger safety as well as transportation staff. However, some advocates say the budget, which includes a 10-cent increase in ticket prices and a 9% reduction in services from pre-COVID-19 levels to address a $366 million budget shortfall, sparks raised concerns about safety.

“Safety is a top priority for some people using public transit right now, but fewer services make us less safe,” said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of advocacy group TTCriders. more complete.

At the national level, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government will continue to work with provinces and cities to ensure Canadians are safe when he was asked about transit safety on Tuesday.

“If the federal government has some role to play in strengthening, then we will certainly step up,” he said. “It’s something we’re happy to partner with provinces and cities.”

Police vehicles surround a TTC tram on Spadina Avenue, in Toronto on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. Police say a person was stabbed multiple times on a tram in Toronto. They said the victim was taken to hospital and a suspect was arrested at the scene. REPORT CANADA/Arlyn McAdorey



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