CRIME WATCH
Blood Weekend
Bloodletting is a fixture of that annual auditory assault of amplified steel drums known as the Caribbean Carnival, aka the-celebration-formerly-known-as-Caribana. In 1996, gang member Elrick Christian was gunned down and three bystanders were injured, including a British visitor: Nurse Cicely Malcolm, left paralyzed by the gun play, was robbed as she lay bleeding in the street. During Caribana 2005, Dwayne Taylor was shot and killed before thousands of people
at Dundas Square -- one of three fatal shootings in a 12-hour period. In 2009, a visitor from Montreal was killed. On July 29 this year, Anthony Smalling was killed in a drive-by shooting in Etobicoke. Next day, a man who refused to drop his handgun after firing into the crowd was fatally shot by Toronto Police at the conclusion of the Caribbean Carnival parade. Crime scene photos show a street littered with what must be tons of food wrappers. "Two others, including a bystander, were injured in the incident. ... Despite starting three hours late, the parade had otherwise gone off without a hitch. [Well, that's some consolation]. An estimated 18,000 dancers [aka The Adoration of the Bouncing Cellulite] were joined by more than a dozen bands on the 3.5-kilometre parade route from the CNE grounds to Lake Shore Boulevard along the city's waterfront. 'This parade provides an opportunity to celebrate all things Caribbean,' Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said in a speech at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that launched the day's official events earlier Saturday. The day is a 'beautiful expression of Toronto's multiculturalism,' Ford said." (CTV, July 30, 2011)
There were further beautiful expressions of Toronto's multiculturalism that weekend: "Toronto Police are seeking advice from a Crown attorney to determine if any charges apply to two men who allegedly sacrificed a sheep in a North York park for good luck. Cops found the disturbing scene in Rowntree Mills Park Friday, after tracing a car they believed was involved in a kidnapping. … Police were called by a woman claiming she saw someone trying to escape from the trunk of a car. She managed to get the licence plate and officers later found the vehicle in the … park. Officers found duct tape, binding twine and excrement inside the trunk. Moments after finding the car, two men came running towards the car and they were taken into custody, sources said. But they told officers that they had sacrificed a sheep, which they bought for about $150 from a farm near Hwy. 27 in York Region, and slaughtered it for good luck. Stunned officers found the sheep, the bloodied rock where the slaughter occurred and a ceramic bowl used in some sort of religious rite [Santeria, probably] to ensure good fortune, along with two bloodied knives and a meat cleaver. Police aren't sure the Criminal Code covers the killing of livestock in the same manner as it would a pet and are seeking advice from a Crown, sources said." (Toronto Sun, July 30, 2011) Good grief.[This article appears in the August, 2011 issue of the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE. Published monthly, the CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE is available by subscription for $30 per year. You can subscribe by sending a cheque or VISA number and expiry date to CANADIAN IMMIGRATION HOTLINE, P.O. Box 332, Rexdale, ON., M9W 5L3.]
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