As violence increases on the TTC, unease grows along with calls for more support

Angel Natale uses the TTC almost every day to get to school, but a recent string in violent incidents — including the seemingly unprovoked death of a 16-year-old boy — has left her on high alert.

"I'm 17, so I'm around that age. So it's like, you know, what if that's me?" she said. "You have to turn your music down, watch where you're going and just be more aware."

Natale isn't alone.

In the wake of a recent spate of violent incidents on transit, many riders say they're left feeling uneasy. Those incidents include the death of Gabriel Magalhaes, who was stabbed by a stranger while sitting on a bench at Keele subway station on Saturday. Jordan O'Brien-Tobin, 22, of no fixed address, has been charged with first-degree murder.

But as the city grapples with the tragedy of Magalhaes's death, many — including his mother — say the answers lie in long-term investments in housing, social supports and mental health.

Speaking in an emotional interview with CBC's The National on Tuesday, Andrea Magalhaes said more needs to be done to help people in crisis.

"It's not an easy solution. We're not talking about adding more police force, I'm not talking about locking people up. I'm talking about root causes," Magalhaes told CBC's chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault.

Watch the full interview here: 

"Why is a person not able to access care, access supports?"

The teen's mother — a nurse who said she'd previously completed a clinical placement at a mental health hospital — described her pain as horrible. But, she said, she wanted to speak in part to honour her son, whose sweater she was wearing during the interview because she said it smelled like him.

"I'm not doing this for me — I am partly doing this for Gabriel, but really I'm doing it for change," Magalhaes said through tears.

Butterfly GoPaul, a parent and member of the Jane and Finch Education Action Group, agrees, saying the teen's death and cases like it are avoidable.

"All levels of government are responsible for this 16-year-old's death," she said. "The city, the province, the feds need to do way more instead of putting money time and time again into policing and surveillance."

TTC violence up 46% in 2022 

Recent data shows violence against passengers on the TTC rose 46 per cent last year from the year before. There were 1,068 violent incidents against passengers in 2022, according to a report released by TTC CEO Rick Leary last month, including 245 in the last two months of the year alone. The previous year, there were 734 incidents.

Speaking to CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday, city councillor and TTC board chair Jon Burnside said more needs to be done to curb those figures.

"What I've asked the deputy mayor is that we actually have a real high-level meeting with the chief of police, with public health, with the city manager and that we all start taking responsibility," he said.

Burnside says the problem largely stems from unhoused people struggling with mental health problems using the transit system to find shelter.

Last week, the City of Toronto announced a one-year program to have outreach workers on the system to help those individuals.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the responsibility lies within Toronto's next mayor to tackle transit violence.

"Enough is enough with this crime. I've never seen anything like it," he told reporters on Tuesday. "That should be the number one issue for any mayoral candidate."

Concerns campaign could take aim at unhoused people

But some, including Chris Ramsaroop, an assistant professor with the University of Toronto, worry the election could turn this issue into a campaign against unhoused people.

"This should not lead toward more policing and more enforcement and intimidation and harassment of homeless-precarious populations," said Ramsaroop.

"What we need is a more housing, more supports to address precarious issues that are happening in our city."

Toronto resident Mykola Merkulov agrees.

"I think it's more the mental health side of things rather than the homelessness," he said.

"If you're homeless, you're not necessarily violent, even if you have a mental health disorder."