(Quebec) François Legault “does not accept” the outbreak of criminal violence. His Minister of Public Security must take stock with the bosses of the Sûreté du Québec and the Montreal City Police Service on Friday.
“It makes no sense what is happening with our young people, who are involved in street gangs and then commit crimes. I will never accept that,” he said Thursday in the National Assembly.
The Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, is also due to meet on Friday with the bosses of the two largest police forces in Quebec. Its objective: “to take stock of the situation and see the possible solutions that will be put in place by the police to respond to these security challenges”.
He intends to show the police that the population is worried, and that they must be reassuring. He is worried about seeing crime becoming more and more “disorganized”.
In the morning, The Press reported that the Hells Angels in the Quebec region strengthened their defenses to face the revolt of gangs and independent traffickers, and that a street gang from Rivière-des-Prairies, the Profit Boys, even joined to the conflict between the Blood Family Mafia (BFM) of Quebec and the criminal biker group.
MM. Legault and Bonnardel listed several measures that they have implemented in recent years: notably the hiring of police officers in Laval and Montreal and the increased training of new officers.
The CAQ does not take the situation seriously, according to the PQ
They are on the defensive, because the Parti Québécois accuses them of taking the situation lightly. The Prime Minister was also stung by a question from PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “When I hear the Prime Minister tell us that it is not so bad and that basically it compares better than in certain places in Canada, that makes us say that the government is not taking the situation seriously” , he said during the question period.
“The statistics are clear, the number of assaults, fights and attacks have doubled in just a few years, the same goes for gun violence,” he worried.
With the cases of “the Frampton attack, where a 14-year-old boy served as cannon fodder in a war between two criminal groups”, and the arson attack in Montreal which cost the life of a mother and daughter, the Parti Québécois is calling for a parliamentary commission to be held on “the exploitation of our young people by hyperviolent street gangs”.
“I think we are all affected when we see young people who are used, young people who are vulnerable. They are offered money to commit crimes. It’s terrible, and I don’t think there is anyone here who will accept that,” retorted François Legault.