This week ON THE LEDGE welcomes Melissa Lantsman as a guest contributor. Melissa’s a VP at Hill and Knowlton and was also a war room strategist for the Ontario PC party during the 2018 provincial campaign. All the talk in Toronto was about the spike in gun violence this week. The region averaged more than 2 shootings a day in a 7 day stretch. That has prompted Ontario Premier Doug Ford to reiterate his law and order commitment to the Toronto Police Service in the form of $25 million. Ford and Toronto Mayor John Tory are expected to make a joint announcement in the coming week on their plans to curb the rash of shootings.  That is likely to score the premier some positive marks in the 416 but Doug Ford caught a good deal of criticism after he unleashed on the Not Criminally Responsible patients - calling them “animals” who need to be jailed rather than treated at CAMH. His willingness to be baited by the media and his political opponents suggest it’s going to be hard for Doug Ford to sit quietly on his hands AND on the sidelines during the pending federal election campaign.