The Official Opposition returned to the charge on Tuesday to demand that the mayoress of Montreal Valérie Plante respects her promise to hire 250 new police officers.
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“It is not because the public safety file is shared with Ottawa and Quebec that Montreal must shirk its responsibilities. On the contrary, there is work to be done, ”said Abdelhaq Sari, official opposition spokesperson for public security, who is worried about the large number of shootings that have taken place on the territory of the metropolis since the beginning. of the year.
Mr. Sari accused the mayoress of Montreal of hiding behind the other two levels of government to avoid taking on her own responsibilities.
“The fight against armed violence is not easy, as we know, and that is why we want new staff,” Mr. Sari recalled.
Although he is delighted with the creation of specialized squads at the SPVM, Mr. Sari believes that their creation is equivalent to “undressing Paul to dress Jacques”, since the Police Department of the City of Montreal must move staff to set them up.
During the election campaign, Ensemble Montreal had promised to hire 250 additional police officers, in order to reach the ceiling of 4,802 police officers authorized by the provincial government.
The promise was then taken up by Valérie Plante. However, soon after her election, she explained instead that her hirings would be used to fill retirements.
The mayoress again defended her point of view, Monday evening, in an interview with TVA Nouvelles. “If the needs are there, if the police chief tells us, as we did with ELTA (the Team dedicated to the fight against arms trafficking, Editor’s note), he said:” Ms. Plante we must engage new police officers “, we did not hesitate, we hired some. If it is necessary, we will add more than 250 if necessary, ”she assured.
“We, as a party, had budgeted and planned for it. We knew what that would have as a financial impact. On the other hand, they made a copy and paste without knowing and understanding what that implied ”, quipped Mr. Sari.
The opposition party will present a motion to demand the hiring of new police officers at the next municipal council, on December 20.