(Quebec) After another death in a shooting in Montreal, the Minister of Public Security Geneviève Guilbault intends to present Sunday new crime prevention measures in order to tackle the “scourges at the origin” of this violence: social inequalities. It’s a five-year, $ 54.6 million plan.
This announcement comes on top of the investments already made in repression, with the creation of Operation Centaur on arms trafficking at a cost of 103 million by 2026.
“This fourth young person killed” Thursday testifies to “this rise in violence, or this stride of violent events, of armed conflicts, which has been raging in Montreal for a few weeks and months,” said Mr.me Guibault during a press scrum in parliament on Thursday. In addition to repression, “we must also fight against the scourges which are at the origin of the problem, that is to say social inequalities, and there is a need to help our young people upstream of the problem”.
The increase in “crime prevention efforts” is part of the new spending, numerous, of the mini-budget tabled by the Legault government last week. The document provides for 46.4 million for this purpose, but following the publication of a first version of this text, the government has indicated that the amount will ultimately be increased to 54.6 million.
Quebec thus responds to “the disturbing increase in the number of violent events involving firearms, mainly in the greater Montreal area”, and “mainly involving members of criminal groups”.
It will improve aid to community organizations which “intervene directly with populations at risk and allow better care for vulnerable people”.
“The government thus wishes to prevent violence linked to firearms by allowing young people, among other things, to develop fields of interest and passions and to fulfill themselves through sports, artistic and cultural activities adapted to their needs. He also wishes to offer greater support to people at risk of falling into delinquency, ”we can read in the mini-budget.
According to Geneviève Guilbault, we must “offer these young people an alternative to crime” and “put in place the winning conditions so that we have equal opportunities in these neighborhoods, because some neighborhoods are more at risk. Montreal than others ”.
Quebec will also create training “aimed at preventing racial and social profiling and equipping police officers to improve their understanding of the complex issues they face in a diverse society”.
New social reintegration services will be added in order to prevent “criminal recidivism by supporting people imprisoned before the end of their sentence”.
Research work will be funded “to obtain a better overview of the problematic [de la violence liée aux armes à feu] and direct the actions of stakeholders more effectively ”.