In fact, I hate you because I hate what you’ve become: violent and dangerous. There are no other words to describe a town where teenagers kill teenagers. And this situation is not “worrying”, as many times heard, it is terrifying.
Posted at 2:00 p.m.
The shotgun and stab wounds that have been murdering for months turn you into a giant Russian roulette wheel, impossible to turn off. When my 16 year old son leaves chill with his friends in your parks, it’s fear: what if it was his turn to take a stray bullet? To be the target of a scoring ? Because after all, why would my son have a greater privilege than Thomas Trudel, whom he knew in primary school, and Amir Benayad, who attended the same secondary school?
I can no longer. Squeal pus able. And when I hear that we have to increase the population’s feeling of security, I explode.
As if the objective and real armed violence that rages in your streets had to do with a subjective perception of everyone. As if the feeling of security was THE cause.
Today, my fear and my anger are matched only by the lack of love I have for you. I’m moving for good. I’m going to another city, but not wild. I leave you a piece of advice: listen. Listen to people who know young people who have the guns. Listen to street workers and community workers who have been decrying their underfunding for years. They are central to your recovery.
Think about it: scattering more police on your territory may prevent a shooter from taking action today, but not his motivation to pull the trigger the next day or the day after.