The group that hosts Salsa on St. Clair is threatening to pull the plug on the festival unless it sees accountability from the City of Toronto and its police force in relation to a shooting that took place Saturday that left two dead.
In a statement Tuesday, TLN Media Group said it was “maddening” to see officials standing at the scene of the crime and “normalize mass shootings.”
“Unless City officials provide concrete commitments to enhance policing and security on and around St. Clair Avenue, we will be discontinuing our involvement,” the organization wrote.
“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,” TLN Media Group added.
Salsa on St. Clair is an annual event that has been celebrating Latin culture, food and music since 2005.
Two residents in the area near Toronto’s Salsa on St. Clair festival recount the moment shots rang out on Saturday night. Two people were killed and multiple injured after a shooting.
On Saturday, two men were killed and five others were injured at the festival after gunfire erupted in the area of St. Clair Avenue W. and Arlington Avenue. On Monday, Toronto police identified the two men killed as 25-year-old Shaquan Quashie and 20-year-old Cesar Vernaza. No suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
The festival was cancelled for Sunday.
Posts to social media reporting groups of people “looking for trouble” at recent Toronto street festivals should have been a cautionary indicator, the organization said.
“City officials were or should have been aware of these warning signs,” TLN Media Group said. “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.”
According to Tuesday’s statement, only Coun. Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence) demanded officials should do everything in their power to prevent incidents like these.
“Saturday night’s horrific shootings destroyed a joyous, safe, family-friendly celebration of Latino culture,” TLN Media Group said. “Our hearts go out to all those affected by this senseless violence.”
City committed to reviewing festival approach
In a statement to CBC Toronto, city spokesperson Pat Tobin said Toronto remains committed to working with police, festival organizers and community partners to ensure safety at street festivals.
“The safety of residents, visitors and event attendees is a top priority,” he said.
Tobin noted the city has increased festival funding over the last five years. The number of festivals receiving support increased by 281 per cent and the total grants increased by 103 per cent, according to him.
The city has also spent more than $5 million on youth safety, violence prevention and community well-being in the hopes of addressing the root causes of violence, Tobin said.
“Looking ahead, the City is committed to reviewing its approach to festivals,” he added. “[The city] will support the creation of a Toronto Festivals Association to help strengthen public safety by helping event organizers follow leading practices in safety, security and sustainability.”
Toronto police responded professionally: city councillor
In a statement posted to social media Monday, TD, which has sponsored the festival since 2016, said the shooting is saddening and tragic. “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, local residents, the Latino community and everyone who was impacted by this violence,” the bank said.
Coun. Josh Matlow (Toronto-St. Paul’s), who was named by TLN Media Group as one of the officials who attended the scene Saturday, said Toronto police responded professionally to the shooting.
“They’ve been there for our community and have my gratitude and complete support as they pursue their investigation,” he said. “The deputy chief was very clear in his statement about how brazen and unacceptable the shootings at Salsa on St. Clair were.”
In its statement, TLN Media Group said it is thankful to Toronto police for the “quick and overwhelming” response to the incident.
The second day of Toronto’s Salsa on St. Clair festival has been cancelled after a deadly shooting killed two people and injured several others.
Festival ‘no longer needed’: BIA chair
The organization went on to say Salsa on St. Clair was initiated alongside Toronto’s Hillcrest Village Business Improvement Area (BIA) as a way to help revitalize a dominant business strip with well-known Latino restaurants.
The BIA’s chair, Heather Hannah, says she wasn’t sent the TLN Media Group’s statement prior to it being posted online.
“There’s not really anybody at fault except the people who came in with the guns,” she said. “The nature of a street festival does not lend itself to having more control than what they already had because you cannot admit people through a gate and metal detector and search all their bags.”
However, Hannah says the BIA was already learning towards ending the festival.
“We have kind of outgrown or no longer needed this street festival to publish who we were. We are a destination onto ourselves,” she said. “It’s not worth the hassle. It’s not worth the extra effort. It’s not worth the money.”
“It served a purpose at the time. But this neighborhood has changed.”
Despite this, Hannah says she agrees there should be more examination into how to make street festivals safer.
Gun violence in crowded setting ‘alarming’: police chief
Speaking to reporters at an unrelated event Tuesday, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw said the events over the weekend are difficult for the families of those impacted, but also for the city as a whole.
“We have people who have been injured, who have injuries that they will live with for the rest of their lives, and loved ones who didn’t come home,” he said. “There’s a sadness and grief.”
Demkiw said people’s sense of security and safety has been shaken.
“That needs to be given perspective in the court system and needs to be treated with the utmost power of the law,” he said.
Demkiw reiterated his stance from Monday, in which he said there should be law reform so that anyone who pulls out a gun and kills people while there are innocent bystanders around faces first-degree murder charges.
On Monday, Demkiw also said Toronto police will continue to do everything in its power to tackle gun violence, but everyone has a role to play, including parents, schools, legislators and community organizations, Demkiw added.
“We all need to work together to make sure that the kind of behaviour we witnessed this weekend does not become the norm and is never accepted as such,” he said.
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