My grandmother used to read fortunes in tea leaves, a ritual that felt both ancient and intimately personal. The swirling patterns at the bottom of her china cup, she believed, held glimpses of what was to come – sometimes precise, sometimes veiled in ambiguity. Now, I’m attempting something similar, but instead of tea, I’m gazing into the murky depths of the criminal underworld, trying to discern the shape of things to come.
The first shadow I see centers on Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder who’s taken a dark turn. He’s now wanted by the FBI, accused of being a major player in the flow of drugs across the border, linked to the Sinaloa cartel and dangerous Punjabi gangs. A $15 million reward hangs over his head, but he’s currently under the protection of powerful forces.
That protection, however, won’t last. The heat is intensifying, and the Sinaloa cartel isn’t known for its loyalty. By the end of the year, Wedding will likely face one of two fates: a prison cell, or a far more permanent silence in a Mexican morgue. The odds are stacked against him.
Toronto, a city that experienced a startling drop in murders in 2025 – just 42, a number not seen since the days of Madonna and Prince – will see a resurgence of violence. While police achieved an impressive 86% closure rate, the underlying conditions remain volatile. The opioid crisis rages on, borders remain open, and the justice system continues to struggle with lenient bail practices.
The landscape of crime is shifting. Organized crime, the seasoned professionals, are increasingly outsourcing the most brutal work to street gangs. These gangs, in turn, are pushing the violence onto their youngest members, exploiting a system that offers them a surprisingly lenient path through the courts. They know the kids will face minimal consequences, allowing them to return to the streets, free to commit further acts.
But public patience is wearing thin. Nearly a third of Toronto’s murders were allegedly committed by individuals thirteen years old or younger. The current approach is facing intense scrutiny, and a growing demand for stricter measures is building. The era of kid gloves is coming to an end.
The courts themselves are undergoing a reckoning. Years of appointments by a previous administration resulted in a bench populated by activist judges who consistently favored lenient sentences and dismissed serious charges. Names like Justice Renu Mandhane and Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go are becoming synonymous with a perceived erosion of justice.
The public outcry is particularly strong regarding cases involving heinous crimes, like the Supreme Court decision to strike down mandatory minimums for child pornography. That decision, and others like it, have ignited a firestorm of criticism. A fundamental shift in approach is not just desired, it’s demanded. The coming year will bring a reckoning for those who prioritized ideology over public safety.
The future, like the tea leaves in my grandmother’s cup, is never entirely clear. But the patterns are emerging, and they suggest a year of turbulence, accountability, and a renewed focus on the fundamental principles of justice.
