In April, 2013, a group of grieving Somali mothers and concerned community members came to my constituency office to demand answers and action from the federal government. Almost 50 young Somali-Canadian men had died violently, largely in Alberta and Ontario, since 2006; and many of the killings remained unsolved.
In 2012, six of 33 Toronto shooting homicides took the lives of Somali-Canadian men, who were killed between June and October.
Therefore, when I attend a meeting of 100 people in my community, it is common for four mothers to come up and say that they are the parent of one of the young men that has been gunned down. Can anyone imagine attending community meeting after meeting in which parents beg for justice?
The deaths are not a Somali-Canadian problem. They are everyone's tragedy, as the dead and injured are Canadian-born young men, and the violence can spill over into the wider community.
Canadians should therefore demand to know why there was a delay of four years from the first murders to a series of meetings with the Somali-Canadian community by Public Safety. Why did former Minister Toews not meet personally with grieving mothers? What did he put in place to ensure that these mothers find meaning after the tragic loss of their children, and to build resilience in their communities?
Going forward, the government must understand that: these violent killings are one of the most devastating traumas parents can experience; parents are left suffering emotionally and psychologically; and devastated families must build support, while communities must build resilience.
Grieving mothers, community elders, and Imams say, "These were the children who were supposed to bury us. No one asks us about our pain because no one wants to know."
Youth leaders ask tough questions: what studies of the RCMP's "Bias-Free Policing policy" have been, or are being undertaken, to ensure that no bias does exist? Do mothers feel their children's deaths were considered less important because of their background, and do they believe the investigations into their children's deaths were treated the same as other victims?
Grieving mothers in my community reach out to other bereaved mothers to establish groups, such as Positive Change, for mutual support, to take real action to stop the violence, and to improve the lives of other youth.
Positive Change's brochure reads: "50 sons, brothers, grandsons, friends lost. Together let's stop the violence."
Mothers are specific in their asks to the government: an investigation into these deaths through the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security; the development of federal-provincial job programs supporting Somali-Canadians; the development of job opportunities with the RCMP; and an examination of witness protection.
But after almost a year of courageous activism and advocacy -- leading to order paper questions, letters to Ministers, petitions, speeches, and statements delivered in the House of Commons, and even a vigil on Parliament Hill -- the mothers still lack answers and a responsive government.
Instead, they feel the government has undertaken only a "listening" exercise with the Somali-Canadian community since 2010 -- four years after the first homicides. It remains unclear which stakeholders were included in this exercise, as many organizations in my riding, which has been heavily impacted by the gun violence, did not participate.
Mothers are tired of hearing the government is listening; the Minister has yet to meet with them. They are a skeptical about a "joint work plan", and wonder which stakeholders had input, what issues were prioritized, and most important, were the homicides included?
They are also skeptical about Public Safety's "primary point of contact" in the community. How common is it for Public Safety to have such a contact, and does it have a "primary point of contact" for communities other than the Somali-Canadian community? Why is the point of contact an Ottawa-based organization, when 140,000 Somali-Canadians live in Toronto, compared with 20,000 in Ottawa, and 17,000 in Edmonton, and the homicides largely took place to Toronto and Edmonton?
Mothers are tired of vague answers, and want real action. Specifically, they want to know: when the Public Safety committee will study the homicides, and make real recommendations to end the violence; and what action the government is considering after its $40,000.00 investment into reaching out to the community.
Positive Change wants the government to understand that while "it takes a village to raise a child", "it also takes a village to fail a child"; and that if the government actually comes to the table with grieving mothers, together, "they can even mend a crack in the sky" -- just as the Somali proverb says.
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