A wave of gang violence linked to 16 deaths this year across the Vancouver region, in dozens of shooting incidents, demonstrates that limits on violence have "eroded" to the point that shootings can happen anywhere, Mr. Barry said. That makes the program more valuable, he added.

One of British Columbia's most venerable restaurant chains is standing firmly by a program that targets gang members among its customers, despite one of its establishments in the Fraser Valley being shot up yesterday.The attack, which occurred before the Earls restaurant opened yesterday morning, was clearly a response to Bar Watch operations that have seen bar and restaurant owners share information with police to identify known gang members, who can then be monitored or urged to leave.Someone fired a reported eight shots into the restaurant - in Chilliwack, 100 kilometres east of Vancouver - and spray-painted "Bar Watch Member(s) will die. 1 down and 12 to go" on the building."You've got a building that has been shot up ... with a fairly direct message painted onto that building. I think that's something to take fairly seriously," said RCMP Corporal Peter Thiessen. Earls vice-president Mark Barry said the fact that someone felt strongly enough to take this action speaks to the "effectiveness" of the program, of which the Chilliwack eatery was a member.Roughly half of Earls's 50 restaurants are located across British Columbia, making the chain launched in 1982 a popular dining institution in the province.Ryan MacDonald, chair of the Upper Fraser Valley Bar Watch, declined to comment yesterday on the incident or talk about his group's work, but issued a statement saying the role is to create "safe environments" for the staff and community to eliminate the "threat of violence, abusive language and intimidating behaviours of others."Mr. Barry said that "we think the best way of protecting the safety of our customers and our people is to participate in this program and prevent criminals and gang members from accessing our restaurants and being in our restaurants." He said the restaurant would take a few hours to clean up, then reopen for business.Cpl. Thiessen said an investigation is well under way. "We've got some suspects in mind we're certainly going to try and make contact with," he said.
RCMP, who are effectively the municipal police force in Chilliwack, will step up patrols around the restaurant this weekend.The incident was an unexpected twist yesterday in a continuing gang conflict - what Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu has described as a "brutal" gang war - that has been linked to at least 30 shooting incidents this year. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has used Metro Vancouver as a backdrop to announce new anti-gang legislation.Cpl. Thiessen said the RCMP have a sense of what prompted the incident."We have good reason to believe this is linked to some previous interaction that may have occurred in this particular community, whether it be at this Earls or anyplace else, involving the removal of individuals we feel are associated to gang activity," he said.He said police appear to be making a mark on gang members. "It appears we're having an impact and they are feeling the pressure and [are] uncomfortable and we are disrupting their routines and it would appear, maybe, they are not liking it too much."