We can’t lock down street festivals. But we can do more to lock up losers with guns

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There is one detail from the Boxing Day murder of Jane Creba in Toronto that has stayed fresh in my mind for more than 20 years: The shooter, according to various witnesses, raised his gun to eye level, and then cocked it to the side before firing.

It’s noteworthy because it’s so stupid; you can know nothing about guns and still understand that it’s probably the worst way to take a shot. You only do it because you want to look cool – because you think you’re a bona fide gangster, instead of a loser who decided to take his beef with a rival gang to a busy area of Toronto while shoppers tried to enjoy their day.

Police have not confirmed that a similar scenario played out at the Salsa on St. Clair street festival on Saturday, where two men were killed and five bystanders were injured after shots broke out shortly after 8 p.m. But anyone who has lived in Toronto for an extended period of time can put the pieces together from the little information that is public. According to police, the two men who were killed were targeted and known to each other, which tells us that some losers with guns came to a street festival where Torontonians were trying to enjoy their day and created chaos for everyone, leaving two dead and others injured.

Community reeling after deadly Toronto festival shooting at Salsa on St. Clair event

In the hours following the event, the discussion has turned to what, if anything, can be done to make these events more secure. On Monday, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw called to change the Criminal Code to make the killing of someone at a public event first-degree murder, which comes with an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. It’s a defensible idea (though one surely to be legally challenged if actually pursued) but it’s important to remember that someone dumb enough to open fire at a crowded street festival probably won’t be deterred by the possibility of 15 extra years in prison.

Chief Demkiw also floated ideas of “controlled access points and security screenings,” which would essentially mean locking down whole neighbourhoods to tightly control who gets in and out. That would be a logistical nightmare for a street like St. Clair Ave., however, where most businesses have both a front entrance and back access to an alleyway, all of which would need to be monitored. Others have suggested ending these events earlier in the day, or moving them to locations that can be better secured, including indoor venues.

We have seen some simple measures adopted to better protect against vehicular attacks, such as bollards and buffer zones. But it’s much harder to insulate an event from idiots who decide to take their beef out onto a public street. Indeed, the unfortunate reality is that we can never make these events 100-per-cent secure while still keeping them largely accessible, open, and not exorbitantly expensive. But we can do a couple of things more broadly in the wake of these sorts of devastating events.

Toronto police identify victims of deadly shooting at Salsa on St. Clair festival

One is to continue to demand bail and other Criminal Code reforms. The passing of Bill C-14, which expands reverse onus for bail for repeat and violent offenders, is a good start, though its actual impact has yet to be observed.

But there are other issues we can address. As reported by the Toronto Sun, a man arrested in a separate shooting in Toronto this same weekend was actually out awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in May to breaking and entering, assault causing bodily harm, and other charges. We should demand to know why he was free to wander around downtown Toronto, allegedly shooting a gun and stealing a rideshare vehicle two months later. Just as we should know why one of the men who pleaded guilty to the murder of Jane Creba was released on full parole in 2025, despite just four years earlier being assessed as the highest risk to reoffend. Indeed, that man, Jeremiah Valentine, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in a separate incident just seven months later.

The other thing we can do in the aftermath of these vile attacks is to refuse to yield any space to the losers and delinquents. It is tempting to want to simply avoid these sorts of large public gatherings, which some will now see as too risky to properly enjoy. But to do that is to forfeit the public square to those who have no intention of abiding by its rules, or properly enjoying its benefits. We can’t do that. It’s impossible to lock up every street festival, but we can lock up the losers. Let’s do that instead.