TODAY MARKS the beginning of a four-day visit to Jamaica by Julian Fantino, dubbed Toronto's 'Top Cop', during which there will be an exchange of ideas with officials of the Ministry of National Security and the Jamaican police hierarchy on strategies for dealing with the continuing problems of crime and violence which confront us.
We have already had the benefit of the American policing experience by way of the PERF report, some important recommendations of which are now being implemented by Government. Mr. Fantino's visit affords the opportunity to glean insight and guidance from a Canadian point of view.
Jamaica's links with Canada are long and strong stretching back to a time when our banks and insurance companies were predominantly Canadian, commercial ties that culminated in large Canadian investments in the bauxite industry. Equally important has been the wave of Jamaican migration to Canada, so that now there is a sizeable Jamaican community in Toronto which our visitor has learned to respect. Toronto is one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world with a population of five million, more than half of whom in 2003 will be foreign-born residents.
Jamaica's homicide rate is estimated to be double that of Toronto's two per 100,000 of population in Mr. Fantino's bailiwick. This is due in large measure to the leadership and wisdom of the 25-year veteran, who has played an enlightened role in organising appropriate police response and responsibility in a society still adjusting to the strains and complexities of a large migrant population. He has recommended the decriminalisation of ganja in Ontario and developed a unique system of community policing. We are sure that we have a lot to learn from Mr. Fantino and that he has a lot to learn from us.
This then is a timely and important visit and we extend a warm welcome to a policeman who is a humanist as well as a disciplinarian, a person whose experience can be helpful in our current national debate on how to respect the fine balance between civil rights and state security in the face of increasing social protest.
