Valérie Plante on gun violence in Montreal: “We’re not going to give in to fear”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante held a press conference today in light of recent incidents involving gun violence in the city, including two fatal shootings just yesterday outside Rockland shopping centre and inside a restaurant on Ontario and St-Denis. Plante has been in contact with Premier François Legault and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who confirmed that all levels of government will support the City of Montreal and the SPVM in the following initiatives:

• Recruitment at the National Police Academy
• Providing tools to SPVM to work in better conditions
• Increasing the number of social workers in the field and in the boroughs
• Completing 282 new hires
• Launching the school-team project with the SPVM
• Launching prevention projects with $17-million from Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault
• Working with the federal government to accelerate the gun buy-back program

In Plante’s statement, she also thanked the SPVM officers for their work, saying, ”we know it’s not easy, we will not let you down.”

“I went to meet the population affected by these violent events. People said to me: ‘That’s not Montreal.’ I agree. We’re not going to give in to fear. We are going through difficult times and we will get through them together.

”Safety is a societal issue that must be tackled head-on at all levels, and that is what we are doing. I would also like to say to the police officers of Montreal: We will not let you down. We know it’s not easy. And we say thank you.”

—Valérie Plante

SÉCURITÉ PUBLIQUE : Je suis allée rencontrer la population touchée par les événements violents. Les gens m’ont dit : C’est pas ça, Montréal.

Je suis d’accord. On ne va pas céder à la peur. On vit des moments difficiles et on va les traverser ensemble. #polmtl ????⤵️ pic.twitter.com/og3wWyfuzL

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) August 24, 2022

Quebec Premier François Legault also issued a statement about the killings in Montreal on Tuesday, saying, “We will not accept Montreal becoming a shooting range for gangs.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commented as well, saying, “The shootings that took place in Montreal yesterday are unacceptable, and I spoke with Mayor Valérie Plante today about the steps we’re taking to combat gun violence.”

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