“Toronto – Canada’s version of a Democrat run city”

Carjackings have more than doubled so far in 2024 while break and enters for the purpose of car theft have already exceeded the total number for all of last year, Toronto’s police chief says.

The numbers represent “an escalation of violence, threats and intimidation where weapons are being used to steal vehicles,” Chief Myron Demkiw said, addressing a meeting of the Toronto police board on Monday.

So far this year, the city’s seen 68 carjackings which is a 106 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, Demkiw said, while there have already been 34 break and entry offences for auto theft, up from 22 in all of 2023.

Who is doing the murders in Toronto? Let's have a look at Toronto police's most wanted list. pic.twitter.com/UZt14O0gIx

— Way of the World (@wayotworld) March 16, 2024

For years, American urbanists and city planners have looked at Canadian cities with envy, as they had managed to avoid the searing decline of their American counterparts. And Toronto was where the late Jane Jacobs chose to make her home, largely due to her enthusiasm for urban neighbourhoods.

But more recently, the Greater Toronto Area has been showing signs of the urban ills that are commonly associated with city life south of the border. Carjackings, for example, have boomed; one recent victim was Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner.

Toronto’s top auditor is reporting a record number of fraud and waste allegations as part of her annual audit into wrongdoing within City Hall, leading to the firing of some city workers and even police prosecution.

The Auditor General’s office received 1,054 complaints via its reporting hotline last year, representing 1,450 allegations — the highest number since the program began in 2002.

“We cannot afford, literally, to have people defraud the taxpayers of the City of Toronto, and have waste,” Toronto Councillor Josh Matlow told CTV Toronto. “We need to make sure that every single dollar goes to the priorities of the people of this city.”