-- OTTAWA -- Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is promising legislation before the end of the year to further toughen sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes – despite a ruling by the country's highest court that has narrowed his legal options.**********
The Tories promised, in the last election campaign, to change the Youth Criminal Justice Act to make it mandatory for anyone over the age of 14 to be sentenced as an adult for serious offences such as murder, manslaughter and aggravated sexual assault.
UPDATE: And right on cue... wait for it...
-- BRAMPTON -- A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed at a townhouse condo complex yesterday. Alex Masih was gunned down at 12:35 a.m. on Collins Cr., in the Williams Pkwy.-Kennedy Rd. area.**********
"There's always kids down there," she said. "Teens, and they look like gangsters. There's actually been open drug dealing in this parking lot. I've called the cops I don't know how many times.
One woman believes gangs have staked claim of the area. "When you wear red, you get attacked," she said. There's gang-related graffiti associated to the Crips on a brick wall by the rec centre.
The teen is Peel region's 17th murder victim of the year, matching the record set for all of last year.
UPDATE2: And, of course, the shooting isn't over...
Shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, police responded to reports of gunfire in the McCowan Rd. and Sheppard Ave. E. area where they found a young man lying in the parking lot of a three building low-rise apartment building complex. He had no vital signs and, according to early reports, had been shot up to five times.*
The victim, Toronto’s 41st homicide of 2008, was rushed by ambulance to Sunnybook Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Another male — who was accompanied by his mother — walked into Scarborough General Hospital, suffering from gunshot wounds.
He was later transported to Sunnybrook where he is in critical condition.