I am writing this column the day after participating in a broadcast called Silence the Guns.
AM 640 Radio in Toronto committed to 13 hours of programming of a community town hall on the issue of gun violence. I was honoured to be invited to fly into Toronto and to have our National Adler on Line program on the Corus Network integrated with the one being produced by the Toronto radio station.
The show featured community activists, friends and families of those who have been victimized by crime. We also had police, politicians and, most important, ordinary folks who came to visit us right above the famous Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto’s Dundas Square. Many others called in from around the country.
Of the many e-mails I received, this is one I choose to share with this national newspaper and online audience.
Charles,
Thank you for coming out to Toronto and for your efforts yesterday. It was most unfortunate that there was yet another shooting in Toronto while your program was being aired.
I am 36, my brother is 27. We both grew up poor. We grew up with a single mother. We lived in some rough neighbourhoods. My father was rarely around. Yet neither of us has ever been in trouble. We both have good jobs. Our mother would have kneecapped us (she still would) if we got into drugs. If we got into trouble at school, we would have had to come home to face our punishment. As kids, we knew right from wrong. Please spare me the claptrap from The Community about how there are not enough social programs.
In Thursday’s Metro (a free subway paper put out by the Toronto Star), the headline read, Don’t Pressure Me: Cotler. The article went on to describe how there was no quick fix and how this would take time. In other words, he just undid all of Paul Martin’s theatrics about trying to convince us he really cared about this issue. Don’t worry, Irwin, you’ll have plenty of time to recover from the pressure in just a few weeks.
Every time Paul Martin or one of his people says “We will …” someone should ask, “Well, you’ve had 12 years. Why didn’t you do this earlier?”
I just hope and pray the Conservatives don’t get cocky and screw this up. I keep hoping and keep praying.
All the best,
David
Dear David,
I want you to know that every time I hear that claptrap, I think of people just like you and your family.
My personal experience is not unlike your own. And I sometimes take it personally when I have so-called community leaders in my face telling me that society is murdering our children because society isn’t providing enough programs.
Some parents aren’t providing enough love, enough attention and enough consequences. There are some instances where the parents are blameless, and I feel for them.
David, I sometimes think that the claptrap excuses would not get very many heads nodding if this country wasn’t so blessed with riches. We have so many people who have been raised with a great deal of comfort and privilege. Those of us who had to struggle to climb out of poverty, through hard work and focus and discipline, are outnumbered in Canada by those who have had it relatively easy.
Unfortunately, too many members of the working media come from cushy backgrounds and so they too are vulnerable to the messages of the poverty hustlers.
Thank you for writing me. Thank you for not allowing yourself to be hustled.
All the best,
Charles Adler
Winnipeg
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