It must be stated without one looking over his shoulders that, gun toting has become the bane of patriotic Canadians with Ghanaian descents and residents in the whole Greater Toronto Area [GTA].

Unnecessary carrying and use of guns by the youth and suspects usually for criminal purposes in the city is currently threatening the serene atmosphere of peace all enjoys and that something must be done to stamp out or control the criminal gun activities.

The situation has become so serious that now there is fear and panic among some patriotic Canadians and residents thereby withdrawing from national, religious and social events where the after math has been gruesome murders of innocent persons.

It has been noticed that a greater majority of Ghanaian young adults are not participating in various Ghanaian cultural, traditional and social events in the Greater Toronto Area.

Apathy exhibited by these young adults are in response to the unnecessary carrying and use of guns by suspects who as trigger happy persons least provoked or not provoked shoot and kill innocent persons anytime anywhere.

Recent gruesome murder of late Jenas Nyarko, 31, Canadian with Ghanaian decent of Replin Road and Old Meadow Lane Area of Toronto, should be a wakeup call to Ghana High Commission in Canada, chiefs and traditional authorities, the clergy, resident associations, opinion leaders, student associations and ordinary people to look at the way Ghanaians live their life in Canada.

According to Toronto Police, on Sunday 24 June 2018 at 1:56 a.m. it responded to a shooting in Replin Road.

The security footage of suspected vehicle was also released by the police for all to watch on their YouTube for those with information that can lead to the arrest of the suspects to contact them.

Apart from that, leaders of various Ghanaian unions and residents have held press conferences which they were enraged over the gruesome murder and called on the suspects to hand themselves in to the Toronto Police. Well said and done to condemn the unnecessary carrying and use of guns by suspects who carry out gruesome murders. However, we must also not lose sight of the fact that an introspective exercise must be conducted by all stake holders to find the root cause of these criminal activities of which innocent Canadians and patriotic residents are being murdered anyhow.

But in all, it is now a big wakeup call to all to review the organization of our cultural, traditional and social events which the aftermath has been the shocking news of gruesome murders of innocent residents.

Funerals, outdoorings, wedding receptions, and birthday parties have become a common savour of both national and international tourists in the city of Toronto and must be considered by all.

The rich culture, tradition and colourful attraction of funerals, outdooring’s, wedding receptions, birthday parties, and graduation and retirement get-togethers, particularly among Ghanaians, provide valuable content for residents with good appetite for Ghanaian culture in a foreign land like Canada as well as unionize.

Consider the income generated by business operators of banquet halls, the fashion designers who sew the African wears for such events, the employment services for the hoteliers who provide accommodation, the bookings for the airlines, the undertakers, the commercial transport owners and many more. However the timing of such events has become one particular problem most residents have been complaining about ever since but there seems to be no solution to it. Back home in Ghana, funerals are held from morning till 6:00 p.m. where friends and loved ones sympathize and comfort the bereaved family for the loss of their beloved. But in Toronto bereaved Ghanaian families schedule their funeral events from 9:00 p.m. Saturday evenings through the mid night till 4:00 a.m. early Sunday morning. Suppose the funeral late Jenas Nyarko attended and was returning when she was shot was held between 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. maybe she could have escaped that gruesome murder on that fateful day. THAT IS MY OPINION.

The unfortunate shooting and killing of Jenas Nyarko happened around 1:56 a.m. Sunday 24 June2018 after attending a funeral.

Some traditional arguments in support of holding the late night funeral events, wedding receptions and birth day parties is that it offers those who work on morning and day shifts on weekends the opportunity to and contribute.

But these are the same people when asked of their opinions about the matter expresses fear and panic over gun toting at night in the area thereby growing apathy in showing up at social events.

Therefore we need to start from somewhere by identifying the problems associated with the organization of such events and find lasting solutions to them.