The Guardian Angels’ History In Toronto
Posted July 13, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It was early 1982 – the first time the Guardian Angels came to Toronto.
They hung on here for at least a year, patrolling problem areas like Regent Park, the Yonge St. Strip and the subway.
Some things never change – the Angels will be looking at those same areas again when they start their patrols this summer.
Authorities were less than happy to greet them then and those in charge now are equally reluctant.
Mayor Mel Lastman wasn’t a fan.
“The Mafia got started by originally wanting to do good, and then they became the gangster organization,” he railed. “I’m very concerned about people who are coming into areas, who are not asked to come into those areas.”
Organizers who gathered to find new members weren’t amused.
“If they want to show us some other place where we can recruit in this area, fine,” fumed former Angel Lisa Sliwa, as police told her to move along. “I’m willing to move but they’re not willing to do that so we’ll have to take our consequences.”
But if officials were less than welcoming, many locals felt just the opposite.
And while the reaction to this “crime fighting American-style” is mixed this time around, more people seemed to approve of their presence in the early 80s.
“They’re very good,” one Regent Park resident declared about the Toronto branch. “They’re nice people.”
“They come in and you know, just keep an eye on things and help,” praised another.
One woman strolling along Yonge St. in roughly the same area where the Boxing Day shootings would one day make headlines summed up her feelings about these wingless Angels.
“The police are not there all the time and when they do get there, the crime is already committed,” she lamented. “You know, if they’re willing to help then I don’t see anything wrong with it at all.”
Despite the apparent public support 23 years ago, the Toronto branch vanished amidst a flurry of official opposition from authorities, disinterest from recruits and a feeling that Toronto the Good really didn’t need them after all.
Now, much of “The Good” has given way to “The Bad”. And it’s up to the city to decide if history will repeat itself or whether the Angels will finally take flight here.
