Tragedy on Friday July 7, 2023

July 11 Update:

Dear Neighbour,

As promised, here is the link to South Riverdale Community Health Centre’s board statement. Please reach out to them directly with any questions ([email protected]).

Also, the Zoom webinar tonight on how to talk to children about this incident is being hosted by Flourish on Queen (not the Leslieville BIA).

Last evening’s update is included below.

Yours truly,

Julie

Dear Neighbour,

On Friday our community experienced a terrible tragedy when we lost Karolina Huebner-Makurat, an innocent bystander, to a shooting at Queen and Carlaw. A wife, mother and much-loved community member, our heart breaks for her family and those who knew and loved her. A gofundme page has been created for her family.

I have talked with many of you about your safety concerns. My office is nearby, at Queen and Pape, and as a community member I share many of your worries. I will work with you to get better answers and to seek solutions so we can all feel safer in our community.

It can be hard to talk with young children about this event. Flourish on Queen is hosting a zoom webinar on ways to discuss this event children tomorrow, July 11th at 8pm. Please find the registration link here.

Here are additional crisis support services:

Victim Services Toronto (416-808-7066) is available 24/7 to provide immediate crisis response, intervention and prevention services.

Gerstein Crisis Centre (416-929-5200) provides crisis response 24/7.

City of Toronto’s Crisis Response Program
Katherine Marhong
437-331-2637
[email protected]

Hearing your ideas and concerns informs the work that I do as your federal representative. You can reach me by email at [email protected] or phone at 416-405-8914. I will be available for meetings at my office at 1028 Queen St E. specifically related to the recent events in our community. Please call or email to book an appointment.

There have been many questions about South Riverdale Community Health Centre and the harm reduction services that it offers, especially the safe injection site. The SRCHC offers many services and has had a needle exchange for well over 20 years. It has been approved to operate a safe injection site since November of 2017. Neighbours have pointed out an increased concern about safety around the site over the past year. I have been in touch with SRCHC about these concerns and what wrap-around services are required to ensure the entire community is safe. I will be providing any updates from them by email and social media.

There is also a larger issue of safety in our city as a whole. Just this morning there was another shooting at Bloor and Yonge. I have been a longstanding advocate for gun control, including our federal government’s actions which have ended the buying, selling and transfer of handguns in Canada and a ban on military style semi-automatic weapons. We have also taken additional steps to increase the ability to trace guns through an agreement with the United States and invested in further border security. Last year we invested in programs that will keep people away from getting involved with guns.

Despite these actions, I – like you – feel frustration that we continue to see gun crimes in our city. Each incident shatters a larger community than those directly impacted. I am continuing to work towards the new steps needed, and I have been talking with our Minister of Public Safety and will share your thoughts on this issue.

Over the years I have talked with many of you about the opioid crisis which has left very few families and neighbours untouched. Much of the feedback I have received over the past days has demonstrated strong compassion for people in our community with opioid addictions. I thank you for being such a caring community that I am proud to represent. As we work to improve community safety, I am also looking for your ideas as to how we can continue to provide necessary services to address the opioid crisis. None of these issues are easy and none have solutions at a single level of government, but I am committed to working with you and for you to make our community safe for everyone.

Yours truly,

Julie

Julie Dabrusin

MP for Toronto—Danforth

MP Julie Dabrusin
1028 Queen St E
Toronto, Ontario M4M 1K4
Canada