Candidates from Ensemble Montreal pledged on Saturday to make East Montreal a safer place, if elected. The fight against shootings, cohabitation problems related to homelessness, street harassment and domestic violence are at the heart of their priorities.
Christine Black, outgoing mayor of Montréal-Nord, Karine Boivin Roy, candidate for mayor of Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Lyne Laperrière, candidate for the post of mayor of the borough of Rivière-Des-Prairies – Pointe-Aux-Trembles, announced a series of promises on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park.
The candidates said that multi-year funding would be given to community organizations that work to prevent violence against young people, and that promote their integration into the labor market, so that they do not turn to crime. Ensemble Montréal promises that the number of street workers in Montréal-Nord will increase.
The party also wants to hire 250 police officers from the start of its mandate, if it is brought to power. This measure would represent an investment of $ 30 million per year. Watch committees would be set up to intervene with the population.
“We need a police force capable of fighting crime, but we must also promote community and local police. The watch committees will allow us to find this harmony and restore confidence between Montrealers and the SPVM, ”said Lyne Laperrière, in a press release.
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Candidates Lyne Laperrière, Karine Boivin Roy and Christine Black
Ensemble Montreal wishes to set up a sports center in Montreal-North, an initiative that Projet Montreal “refused and blocked” during its last administration, deplores Christine Black. “It’s really scandalous, because a few weeks before the election, the mayoress says it is a priority for her administration,” said Mme Black.
The party intends to establish a new cultural and community hub, called Espace Rivière, in Rivière-des-Prairies. Ensemble Montréal also aspires to set up a football and soccer field in Henri-Bourassa Park.
The party particularly wishes to focus on the issue of cohabitation with people experiencing homelessness in the Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve sector. An “urban strategy” would be put in place, by hiring double the number of patrollers for the Psychosocial Emergency Support Team and the Mobile Reference and Homelessness Intervention Team. Pilot projects concerning the opioid crisis would also be set up.
“We cannot accommodate a hundred homeless people in a neighborhood without a cohabitation plan. Our urban health strategy will allow us to meet the crying needs of vulnerable people while maintaining the quality of life of citizens, ”Karine Boivin Roy said in a press release.
The candidates also unveiled that an awareness campaign intended for employees of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) would be launched, to enable them to recognize and intervene in a case of harassment in public transport.
Ensemble Montréal plans to create a new mixed team against spousal violence within the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).