The devastating car crash last week that killed a baby and his visiting grandparents is one of those stories that I have learned over the years I simply struggle to cover. It reminded me immediately of the story of the Neville-Lake family, which was something I eventually just had to stop talking about. It’s not that it became less newsworthy. It was just that I got to a point when, one day, I realized I did not think I could get through another segment of my radio show or write another paragraph about it. I just had to stop. The heartbreak was relentless.
So don’t expect much in this column dwelling on the human tragedy of this latest incident. There is nothing of use I can add to describe the scale of this loss. But from the very first reports of this police chase gone horrifically wrong, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about just how politically loaded this story is. The family should be left to recover and heal as best they can in peace. I don’t know if they will be given that opportunity. This story simply presses on too many pressure points.
Again, there will be no dwelling, but here’s the basic outline of the facts: a week ago, an off-duty police officer reported that he had observed a liquor-store robbery in progress and had been threatened by a suspect with a knife. A police chase followed that ultimately resulted in numerous police vehicles chasing the suspect vehicle down the 401, travelling the wrong way through live lanes of traffic. The suspect vehicle eventually — and perhaps inevitably — crashed, setting off a chain reaction that involved a reported six vehicles. One of those vehicles contained the three-month-old baby boy, his parents, and his grandparents — identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto as Mr. Manivannan and Mrs. Mahalakshmi — who were visiting from India to meet their newest family member. The baby and the grandparents died. The parents were injured. The driver of the suspect vehicle also died; his passenger suffered grave injuries.
In my line of work, sometimes we joke about stories that tick all the boxes or really go for the high score. Those jokes refer to stories that involve more than one topical issue. There is no joking about this tragedy, but I don’t recall any other recent event that is so loaded with current topical issues. And all of them seem ripe for exploitation by those with their own agendas.
Let’s start from the beginning. This all started with the reported attempted robbery of an LCBO. Such robberies has been much in the news of late. You might recall the video from just a couple of weeks ago in which a citizen attempted to stop such a robbery. You may also remember that story a few months ago about how the LCBO was considering a pilot project that would involve screening people via identification documents before allowing them into liquor stores. That proposal was quickly withdrawn due to backlash from the public — and even from the premier — but it was suggested only because of the high volume of liquor-store robberies.
In the wake of this disaster, don’t be surprised if petty crime at the LCBO ends up being back in the news.
And then let’s consider the suspect. First and foremost, at a time when there is mounting concern that Canadians may be moving away from their traditional embrace of immigration, the Toronto Sun has reported that the suspect was a foreign student from India who was in Canada on a student visa. This is admittedly somewhat tangential and hopefully won’t be exploited, but it’s worth flagging given the existing debates and controversy.
The ones we should all expect to see made a political football is the fact that the suspect, Gagandeep Singh, was out on bail after a series of prior crimes in recent months, including other thefts, but also including more serious charges, such as robbery and carjacking. At a time when public safety, criminal justice, and specifically the bail system in this country are already subjects of political controversy in Ottawa, no one should be surprised to see that this tragedy is already becoming part of the political debate. The Conservatives were quick to jump on it as an example of the tragic consequences that can result from a bail system that they will argue, I suspect with much success, has become far too lax and lenient, with sometimes tragic consequences.
It’s hard to imagine anything worse than losing your child and parents in the same accident, but having their death turned into an election issue seems one of the few ways that that could be accomplished.
And then there are the issues related to policing. They got a little bit of attention after the recent provincial budget, but we should expect to see more attention paid to them now. The province had committed $46 million dollars to purchase and then operate four new police helicopters in the Greater Toronto Area. As someone with an interest in policing, the lack of aviation assets in the GTA — there are only two police helicopters serving this massive metropolitan area — has always been something of a mystery to me. Police helicopters have a number of applications, including fairly niche tactical uses, search and rescue operations, and also pursuing suspects without car chases. Should the acquisition of these helicopters prove controversial, expect to see this incident used as an example of exactly what they are intended to prevent.
And then there is the issue with police tactics. We are just weeks away from the acquittal of Umar Zameer, who killed a police officer in what the jury accepted was self-defence after he failed to realize the man was a police officer. This has already focused public attention on police tactics in certain specific situations. In that case, the Toronto Police Service has already pledged to review its use of plain-clothed officers. The tragic accident in Whitby is likewise undoubtedly going to bring scrutiny to the regulations and protocols surrounding high-speed police chases. Those regulations were recently changed. Do not be surprised to see many tough questions being asked, especially considering the reports that police commanders ordered the chase terminated minutes before the crash occurred. The chase, though, was not terminated. I will draw no conclusions and offer no speculation. But it is certainly something that will require an explanation — and hopefully soon.
My hope for the family is that they will be allowed to move forward as best they can, with the time and space they need to recover from their physical and emotional injuries. I know how easy it is to say, but my heart truly goes out to them. I’m having a hard time remembering a news story I have seen in my own city in my own lifetime that is as tragic and heartbreaking as this one.
But it cannot be denied that a lot of public-policy files and political issues intersect with this case. It will definitely be discussed going forward. I can only hope that discussion will be respectful and productive. But looking around at the state of our politics today, it’s hard to put much faith in that.
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