The prime minister brought up gun crime during a speech at a Canada-Jamaica reception tonight in Toronto.

Stephen Harper and his Jamaican counterpart, prime minister Portia Simpson Miller, are in town after holding discussions on trade and economy.

After saying the usual welcomes and thank-yous, Harper brought up recent shootings in Toronto.

"It has come to my attention that since July, many in Toronto's Jamaican Canadian community feel that they live in a shadow, the shadow of criminality arising out of incidents like the Danzig St and Eaton Centre shootings," Harper said.

But he had a message.

"Canadians understand that the only community placed under a shadow by perpetrators of these crimes is the community of criminals."

Harper says there are many accomplished, young black men who should not be overshadowed by the few.

He then commended his government's tough on crime stance, including the Safe Streets and Communities Act that was brought in earlier this year. Critics have argued that the bill will do little to reduce crime.