At the end of the Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence, which ended Thursday, the City of Montreal will invest 7.4 million for initiatives targeting young people and their families
Posted yesterday at 6:45 p.m.
“Beyond the immediate response to violent events, we must look at the conditions that improve the quality of life and the path of young people, and which can keep them away from crime and weapons,” explained Mayor Valérie Plant, announcing this investment, at the end of the day Thursday.
A sum of 2 million will be used to support projects initiated “by and for young people”, indicated Mr.me Plant. It will fund projects such as awareness campaigns, events or social, sports and cultural activities, in collaboration with community organizations.
In addition, the City of Montreal will set aside 5 million from its participatory budget for infrastructure projects that meet the needs of young people, such as “sports facilities, green alley projects or urban agriculture”, quoted the mayor.
Finally, $400,000 will be allocated to the creation of a telephone support line offered to families who want to take action to prevent violence.
Public health crisis
The Montreal Forum for the Fight Against Armed Violence, which has taken place over three days over the past three months, has allowed about 100 people to discuss best practices for combating crime.
Valérie Plante promised, alongside the head of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), Sylvain Caron, that these discussions will lead to other courses of action for a second series of commitments.
During the forum, it was raised in particular that armed violence should be treated as a public health crisis, which is exacerbated by the pandemic, by social inequalities and by social networks.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, THE PRESS
The Chief of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), Sylvain Caron
“To achieve good vaccination coverage among young people, we went to get them where they were, so we have to do the same for other types of problems,” noted Montreal’s director of public health, Mylène Drouin, who participated in the event.
Participants also raised the problem of the glorification of violence on social networks, the need for support for parents, the need for young people to have access to trusted counsellors, the lack of funding for community organizations and the importance of better gun control.
ban handguns
On this subject, Valérie Plante directly challenged the federal Minister of Public Security, Marco Mendicino, present at her side at a press conference, reiterating her request for a ban on handguns in Canada.
Prohibiting weapons is essential for me and for other players, including the SPVM. Because if each time a weapon is removed, ten others appear, either from another province or from the United States, it is difficult.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
“We will be there to take more action,” replied Minister Mendicino, without however making any concrete commitment on this subject.
On the side of the opposition to the town hall, we deplore that the commitments of the Plante administration lack seriousness.
“It is ironic to see the mayor dip into the City of Montreal’s participatory budget thinking that it is with green alley projects that we will stop armed violence,” lamented Abdelhaq Sari, spokesperson for the city. Public Safety Opposition and Vice-Chairman of the Public Safety Commission. “Last December, we proposed to him to instead allocate a sum of this participatory budget for the sports center project in Montreal North. This solution, much more concrete and expected by organizations and citizens, was refused. »