QUEEN'S PARK - NDP Leader
Howard Hampton met with youth from the
Jane-Finch community Monday
to discuss gun violence in Toronto's neighbourhoods.
"The Jane and Finch
neighbourhood is one of Toronto's cornerstone
communities," Hampton said. "There are no easy answers to
gun violence.
But one part of the solution
is listening to the community and its needs,
supporting it through tough times and giving young people the
support they need to succeed
so they don't succumb to violence and despair."
At Monday's meeting, Hampton
listened to local youth, parents and community
leaders express concerns about gun violence and raise positive
solutions to make life better
for ordinary families. Topics discussed included tougher
sentencing, the need for more
community centres and better support for job
and mentoring programs.
Hampton stressed the need to
build strong neighbourhoods in Toronto.
Helping distressed
neighbourhoods is a key priority for the NDP. This month, the NDP
Leader appointed a special
task force to advocate for the Toronto Strong
Neighbourhoods Strategy, a blueprint devised by the United Way of
Greater Toronto and City of Toronto to build social services and community
infrastructure in struggling GTA communities. A central requirement
of the
strategy is for the
provincial and federal Liberal governments to improve
the level of services and infrastructure in areas where the need is
the
greatest.
"New Democrats are
listening to the Jane-Finch community," Hampton said.
"We recognize that
after years of cuts to social services, after-school
programs and community programs, it's time to rebuild services for
young
people so we can build hope
for a brighter future free from violence for
everyone," Hampton says.
