Canada's Ottawa Citizen is reporting that Canadian officials are distancing themselves from earlier attempts by the Mayor of Toronto to blame America for a recent gang-related gun crime wave in that city.

From the story:

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan says there's no evidence of an increase
in gun smuggling into Canada, and that it is too simplistic to blame Toronto's
recent spate of gun deaths on the illegal trade.

McLellan said governments and communities must take a more "holistic approach
" to dealing with gun violence, working together to tackle the root causes of
the activity.

"First of all, we have no evidence there are more guns being smuggled into
the country now than ever before," she told reporters yesterday.

"Sometimes, people easily blame the United States for a smuggling of guns.
That, too, is a simplistic response."

The newspaper reports that Prime Minister Paul Martin said he is worried about the rash of fatal shootings in Toronto (16 since July 1 and 31 for the year so far), and another official said that "tougher gun controls are not the answer".

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