No plans to cancel steet festivals despite Salsa on St. Clair violence
· Toronto Sun
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Despite a double fatal shooting at a popular street festival, the mayor says the show must go on.
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“We will not let reckless criminals stop Toronto’s tradition of outdoor street festivals, and we will keep working with city staff and the chief to make sure festivals are safe,” Olivia Chow said during a news conference on Monday afternoon at police headquarters.
On Saturday night, two men were killed at the Salsa on St. Clair festival in what cops say they believe was a targeted shooting. Police identified Cesar Vinces, 20, and Shaquan Quashie, 25, as the two men who were killed.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw doubled down on the mayor’s emphatic call to keep the summer festival season in full swing.
“Street festivals are a vital part of Toronto’s vibrant culture,” Demkiw said. “They will continue to receive police resources as we do everything we can to ensure the safety and security of attendees.”
Demkiw didn’t give any specifics on what new measures would be enforced as police come to grips with the violent incident.
“The events of this weekend underscore the need for ongoing discussions between the police, the city and event organizers about the measures necessary to keep public events safe,” Demkiw said. “Even before this past weekend, I had already spoken with the city manager, Paul Johnson, to highlight the need for increased collaboration and strategic planning concerning how special events such as street festivals are permitted and managed.”
A proving ground
The Toronto top cop said that the FIFA World Cup games, and events like fan fest, gave the police valuable intel into hosting gatherings with large numbers of people. As to the nature of what lies ahead from a security perspective, that will be determined at a later date.
“During FIFA, we all worked well together and successfully hosted six matches without major incident,” Demkiw said. “There are valuable lessons learned from that experience that will help us improve even further going forward. There needs to be a discussion on how we allow people to enjoy street festivals freely with appropriate police presence and, if we need, to introduce additional security measures such as controlled access points and security screening.”
Chow said that collaboration is the name of the game, and all parties seem interested in playing the game long term.
“The city will always work with the police and the festival organizers (and) we will come together and look at the best way to keep people safe in these big festivals,” Chow said. “(Street festivals) are part of the tradition of the city and something people look forward to in the summertime and we need to keep people safe.”