Saturday night’s horrific shootings destroyed a joyous, safe,  family-friendly celebration of Latino culture that has run annually since 2005.  We are devastated by the reports of people injured and killed by the actions of reckless criminals who invaded this peaceful event.  Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence. And we are thankful for the quick and overwhelming response to the shootings by Toronto Police.

The Salsa on St. Clair festival was started in 2005 to help Toronto’s Hillcrest Village BIA revitalize a dormant business strip where some well-known Latino restaurants had popped up.  The annual free street festival grew and became a top summer attraction for people from all backgrounds. And a big source of pride for our Latino community.

It is maddening to see the Deputy Chief of Police with the support of City of Toronto Mayor Chow and the local councillor Josh Matlow, stand at the scene of a horrific crime on Saturday and normalize mass shootings at family festivals in Toronto.  Only city councillor Milke Colle stepped forward to object to the Deputy Chief’s statement and insist that officials must do everything possible to prevent these criminals from ever being able to destroy lives and terrify people.

We understand that social media accounts about other recent Toronto street festivals last month reported the arrival of groups of people looking for trouble and making trouble. City officials were or should have been aware of these warning signs. And those public officials are responsible for directing and empowering police to deploy the necessary resources to respond to such threats before they turn into crime scenes.

Therefore, unless City officials provide concrete commitments to enhance policing and security on and around St. Clair Avenue, we will be discontinuing our involvement. We refuse to subject any of our people, friends, clients and community supporters to situations where public officials responsible for preventing crime and ensuring public safety resist the community’s calls to do better.