Toronto shooting victim identified

Jane Glenn Creba is the Grade 10 student who was killed in the Boxing Day shootings in Toronto. Creba was shot in the head as she was caught in a crossfire between two groups of young men on busy Yonge Street, which was packed with many bystanders. Six others were injured.

For those who don't know, Boxing Day is a holiday in Canada as well as Great Britain on December 26. It's a very popular shopping day, and so the area near Eaton Centre along Yonge Street was busier than normal.

While Toronto is considered a safe city in many respects, by Canadian standards, there are quite a few murders. Of the 78 murders in Toronto this year, a record 52 were by gunfire. The city set a record for murders in 1991, with 88.

Unlike the swingers story from last week, this story may have an impact on the upcoming election. Handguns, like the one used to kill Creba, are a major issue in Canada, especially in the urban areas such as Toronto. The Liberals want more restrictions on handguns in the country. The Conservatives want better enforcement of existing laws.

But Creba's death, and the others like hers, shouldn't be so much a political issue as it should be the impetus to a solution, preferably not a political one.

This is a much bigger deal in Canada because Canadians don't think of themselves as people who use guns on each other.