I'm not sure how much press this topic has been receiving internationally, so I'll try to bring everyone up to speed on what's been happening.

In 2005, there were 52 gun deaths in Toronto, and in just about every case, both the victim(s) and the shooter(s) were either "known to police" or had some sort of gang affiliation. Nearly all of the people killed were young black men -- their shooters share the same profile.

As the year drew to a close, the attacks became more brazen and frequent. After one 18-year-old was shot dead while walking with a friend (he survived this particular incident), he was later killed while attending the same buddy's funeral, shot in throat on the church's front steps as the ceremony concluded.

Black community groups in the city responded to this homegrown violence, shockingly, by pointing the finger elsewhere, blaming the local police for both over-policing and under-policing, as well as all levels of government. Concerned representatives from these groups were even granted a meeting with the Prime Minister himself, who agreed to take action on the matter.

Then came December 26, 2005. Boxing day. Shoppers who crowded the downtown area found themselves in the middle of a crossfire as 15 black gang members had an impromptu shootout with one another. When the smoke cleared, not a single one of thugs had been hit -- just a half dozen or so innocent bystanders; one of whom, a young 15-year old (white) girl, Jane Creba (a pretty, blonde-haired star athlete and honour role student) died on the concrete, separated from her mother searched in vain to find her.

Naturally, the country was appalled at how cold and spineless these shooters had been, but more obviously, that someone so innocent, someone with so much promise, had to die on the cold, filthy street when all she ever wanted to do that day was go to a few post-Christmas sales with her mother.

In any event, with both the new year and a Federal election upon us, party leaders have all vowed to take serious action against these "gangstas." But even though the black community is finally getting the response they asked for, here is what The Toronto Star quoted them as saying:

"We've had over 40 black youth die as a result of gun violence, and we have not seen our government react in such an immediate and strong way

And so we wonder, if it was a black youth that was murdered on Dec. 26, whether or not they would have moved as quickly. We don't feel that they are taking our issue as seriously as it ought to be taken. To us, it is a continuation of the different way in which we are treated as black people in this country."

So what say you?