Spate of Transit Violence Goes Beyond Mental Health Issues, Says Union Head

Criminal defence lawyer says young offenders are part of the problem

Police cars surround a TTC streetcar on Spadina Ave. in Toronto on Jan. 24, 2023, following a stabbing incident. (The Canadian Press/Arlyn McAdorey)

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Canada has seen an almost nonstop rash of violent incidents since the beginning of December, bringing attention to the long-standing problem of violence on transit systems nationwide.

Toronto Mayor John Tory has called for a national mental health summit to address the problem, and others have echoed that call.

“The lack of spending on mental health—particularly as we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic—is painfully clear,” Tory said in a Jan. 25 statement.

But some question whether these incidents can really be chalked up solely to mental health. Many of the recent incidents in Toronto involved young people—some swarming, others using BB guns or other methods of attack.

“In the city of Toronto, these were young offenders who were congregating and then swarming victims. I’m not sure we can categorize that as a ‘mental health’ issue,” Amalgamated Transit Union Canada President John Di Nino told The Epoch Times.

Criminal defence lawyer and commentator Ari Goldkind says it’s a cause for concern that consequences are practically absent for young offenders. He and Di Nino both said justice reforms may be in order.

“If a 16-year-old is assumed to be responsible enough to drive a car, we have to assume a 16-year-old also knows enough to be truly held responsible ... given the spike in violence and the organized and brazen type of violence,” Goldkind told The Epoch Times.

Tory said in his statement that “when people are suffering and unable to receive adequate support, frequently they are left on our streets, on our transit systems.”

But Goldkind says that instead of talking about how the system fails to help people or is “inept,” the focus should be on the “incredibly antisocial, violent, and small segment of young offenders who choose to commit these crimes.”

Goldkind says he represents many young and violent offenders and advocates for them with all the tools available to him within the system. He notes, however, that our society needs to have serious conversations about the extent to which age or “immutable characteristics,” such as race, are used in determining sentencing or blameworthiness.

The cornerstone of the justice system should be “proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said. That ensures that only the guilty are convicted. He said the courts and Parliament should be more focused on that than “the current identity Olympics.”

Di Nino said judges should have to consider aggravating circumstances in which an assault on a transit worker has occurred. That means a judge should consider prior criminal offenses, association with a gang, or other such factors, and these might result in a more severe sentence.

“Aggravating circumstances are very rarely used in this country,” he said. “In some cases, if it was understood what these penalties could look like, that may deter some of these offenders.”

Many Problems, Many Potential Solutions

Many factors are behind the different types of attacks, Di Nino said. Some are related to addiction, some to the homeless retreating to transit facilities for warmth, and some to people being mentally ill.

“To pinpoint one specific group is difficult,” he said.

While the reasons for the attacks are varied, he said that in his opinion, one reason is transit cuts.

“What used to be a 5-minute ride is now a 25-minute ride,” he said.

With funding shortfalls, transit systems are cutting routes, leading not only to longer wait times but also to more crowded buses, he said.

Di Nino also says that a national transit task force has to be established to address the problems.

He said operators need to have more power and protection. In many transit systems, the drivers aren’t allowed to leave their seats when threatened or attacked; otherwise, it’s considered “engaging,” and they may be disciplined, he noted.

“That’s absolutely asinine,” he said.

Stronger shielding compartments around drivers would be helpful, too, he said. The union on Jan. 25 called for a greater police presence, among other measures. Di Nino supports the extra police who have been deployed to the transit systems, but he said it’s a “short-term, Band-Aid solution.”

‘I’ve Never Seen a Spike Like This’

The various transit systems across the country need to get better at reporting these incidents, Di Nino said. He knows that some 2,000 attacks on transit workers have happened annually for the past few years across the country, but most incidents aren’t recorded.

While Canada’s urban centers have gotten more attention, he said that the problem seems to be spread fairly evenly across the country.

“If you’re living in a northern remote community and you have one assault a year, but you only have 10 drivers, well, the ratio then becomes the same,” he said.

Di Nino has been union head since 2018, and before that, he had a 32-year career on the TTC. “I’ve never seen a spike like this before,” he said.

The problem received attention in Alberta last month as well. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis retweeted pictures of a bus reportedly destroyed by a man high on meth. Smith and Ellis vowed to take action.

Martin Andersen, a professor of criminology at Simon Fraser University, has kept his eye on the transit situation in Vancouver for years. He agrees with Tory that mental health is a key cause, saying the decline in services over the past 40 years has led to many mentally ill people living on the streets and in transit facilities.

He told The Epoch Times he has seen peaks and valleys in the number of Vancouver attacks over the years. “Why wasn’t there a moral panic about this eight years ago when we had a similar peak?”