Somali-Canadians call again for help solving slayings

The mothers of some murdered Somali-Canadian men are again pressing the federal government do set up a judicial task force to look into the killings, some of which have gone unsolved for years.

In just the last 10 months, seven Somalia-Canadian men were killed in the GTA. Among them Habiba Adan’s son Warsame Ali who was shot execution-style in September, along with another Somali man.

“I didn’t get answers from police,” said Adnan. “I didn’t get answers from the province and I didn’t get answers from the federal government.”

MPP Mike Colle held a news conference in January on the mothers’ behalf asking the federal government to set up a task force to look into why so many young Somali Canadian men have been killed in Ontario and Alberta in recent years.

He was back on Tuesday to repeat his request.

“We’ve got 50 people murdered. We don’t need meetings. We need some serious attention and a task force — and mobilization federally, RCMP, whoever, to take this seriously,” he said.

Colle says there have been some positive steps locally, pointing to the Toronto District School Board which is looking for ways to keep Somali youths from dropping out of school.

The group is pushing Ottawa to set up a judicial task force to look into the killings and says it expects to get a response by mid-June

CBC.CA