Mr. Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): My question today is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. As the minister responsible for public safety in Ontario, exactly what have you done under your watch to eliminate gun and gang violence in the province?

Hon. Monte Kwinter (Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services): We as a government -- and this isn't just a one-ministry initiative; it's an initiative between the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services and the Ministry of the Attorney General -- have done many things. We have brought together on the Attorney General's side a whole range of initiatives. In my particular ministry, we have brought forward legislation that mandates the reporting of gunshot wounds. We have put together a plan, I'm sure you know, to bring forward 1,000 new officers who will help with that particular initiative. And we are working on a whole other area of getting rid of the causes of some of these things. Legislation is before the House right now on marijuana grow-ops, the proceeds of which go to bring guns into this province. These are all part of our plan to be tough not only on crime but on the causes of crime.

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Mr. Dunlop: Of course, we haven't hired any of those 1,000 new officers yet, and it won't be even in this year.
Minister, under your watch we lost our 44th victim to yet another gun slaying last night. On December 21 last year, our leader, John Tory, called on the McGuinty government to hold an emergency summit on youth violence, and in the first two months of the new year to appoint an all-party select committee to travel the province to listen to parents and community leaders.

On June 28, Mr. Tory hosted the violence affecting youth summit, attended by various stakeholders from across the GTA. On July 13, John Tory called on Premier McGuinty to appoint a committee made up of one caucus member from each party to review the Safe Schools Act. Since last January, John Tory has called on the McGuinty government over 20 times to take action on guns and gun violence.

Minister, Ontarians are demanding leadership on this issue. How many more lives will be lost under your watch before we begin to take serious action on this critical matter? When can we expect real leadership on this critical issue?

Hon. Mr. Kwinter: I find it interesting that last Friday both the leader of the official opposition and I attended a press conference prepared by UMOVE, United Mothers Opposing Violence Everywhere, in which they told us a heart-rending story of all these young members of our community who have been shot. Their message was not police, not banning of guns; it was working within the community, working within their families.

This is something that both of us spoke to; both of us were made aware of the situation. That isn't the first time that has happened. I have been to several forums with members of the community who have been the victims of these particular horrible offences, and they all say the same thing: There isn't one solution; it's a combined solution, where we have to get the police, the community and law enforcement regulations in place to be able to deal with this.