In order to find a solution to the outbreak of armed violence in the city, the City of Montreal will invest $7 million in programs to intervene with young people. This, while the SPVM sounded the alarm on the influence of social networks in the glorification of violence.
The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, made the announcement at the end of a day of discussion within the framework of the Forum for the fight against armed violence, which ended its work on Thursday. The event was co-organized by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM)
“Today is the last step that will allow us to develop a Montreal model when it comes to this fight,” said the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, at the start of the day.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
The City will set up a special youth fund of $2 million over two years to support projects carried out “by and for young people”. This is the first “youth” fund of its kind in the metropolis.
A sum of $5 million will also be taken from the city’s participatory budget to create infrastructure projects that meet the needs of young people, in particular sports facilities.
A telephone support line service offered to families will also be created by the City. The idea was initially brought to City Hall by the Official Opposition.
“What is happening in Montreal is not unique to the City, but what we want is to find our solutions, based on our realities. We are not going to stand idly by in the face of this increase in violence, ”assured Mr.me Plant.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
She indicates that other avenues of action will be studied in the coming weeks, to follow up on the work of the Forum.
Head of the SPVM, Sylvain Caron also promised that the recommendations of the Forum will be taken into account by his service.
“The fight against armed violence, we must lead it all together, and it is a common responsibility,” he explained.
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
On the opposition side, it is judged that the measures announced 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,” said Abdelhaq Sari, spokesperson for the city. official opposition on matters of public security.
He recalled that last December, the Plante administration had refused to allocate sums from the participatory budget for the “more concrete” realization of the sports center project in Montreal North.
Handguns
For several months, Mayor Plante has been asking the federal government to intervene to ban handguns. Last September, she also made a public outing with the mayors of the four other largest cities in Quebec on this subject.
“We will be there,” assured Minister Marco EL Mendicino, responsible for Public Security for the Government of Canada. However, he refused to come forward with a concrete commitment.
At her side, Ms. Plante reiterated that greater control is necessary, and that this is also a request from the SPVM and the young people present at the Forum.
“If, every time we remove a weapon, there are 10 others that appear, either from another city, from another province… at some point, it’s difficult. Gun control is a key part of getting there,” she said.
Social networks
At the SPVM, there is an annual increase of 20% to 30% in the number of files related to social networks.
For firearms cases on these platforms, cases have increased by 68% in the last year alone.
“In 2018, you didn’t see a lot of people showing up with guns on traditional social media. We had three cases. Currently, we are at 58 files, ”illustrated Maya Alieh, supervising detective sergeant of the SPVM cyber investigation module.
During her work, she even had to intervene in the case of a little girl in the 1st year of primary school who attempted suicide due to a threat on WhatsApp.
“We are in a virtual ecosystem which offers everything, which advertises everything and where we lose control of what we watch and publish. Geographical boundaries no longer exist in the virtual world,” Ms. Alieh revealed.
She indicates that many conflicts begin in the virtual world, following a comment or a publication, and then transpose into the real world.
“There’s a lot going on on social media,” Ms.me Plante, assuring that the SPVM would increase its presence on the Web “before it is too late”.
René-André Brisebois, from the Youth in Difficulty University Institute, campaigned for the hubs approach, a solution used in some other cities.
“It’s an approach that allows for an integrated and concerted response to the young people most in difficulty. Those that we are less able to reach, but that we know that there are more needs”, he explained.
These cells meet once or twice and provide support to families who accept it, in order to offer them support. According to Mr. Brisebois, the method makes it possible to have an answer with a “concrete” action.