The War on Gangs

• Author: David M. Tanovich
• Pages: 97-104

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The War on Gangs

The f ea r of g an g and gun v iolence appears to be the height-

ened face of fear in Canad a.1 So, when police off‌icials speak about

crime, they often highlight the havoc wreaked by gangs, or, as

some have called them, “urban terrorists.”2 And, as in the war on

drugs, a number of powerful institutions have linked race and

gang aff‌iliation.

The Federal Gover nment On the federal government’s Public

Safety and Emergency Preparedness website, browsers can f‌ind

the following statement about street gangs in Canada:

Street gangs are a relatively new phenomenon in Canada,

but their activities can have wide -ranging effects on t he

communities in which t hey operate. St reet gang s are often

based on ethnic origin, in cluding Asian and Aborig inal-based

gangs.… Street gangs are often regarded as a youth problem,

but this is not always the case.3

This passage is troubling. Has our government qualif‌ied ethnic

origin in the same way as age? The statement about ethnicity is

presented as a fact: “they are often based” on ethnic ori gin. T he