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Montreal is a progressive city with the most right-wing policing policy in Canada

Observations from Montreal

Montreal is a progressive city with the most right-wing policing policy in Canada

A new survey commissioned by the Police Brotherhood shows that two-thirds of Montrealers feel the city is less safe than it was five years ago. The Brotherhood is a politically savvy organization. Its survey, clearly meant to support its demand for more police, also included a question about funding for social services, with 87% of respondents saying more needed to be done to support vulnerable populations in Montreal. As the Brotherhood likely predicted, this result was largely overlooked in the discussion of the survey — for the simple reason that no political party cares to notice.

The city needs to look more closely at the reasons why people feel unsafe, examine a full range of possible solutions and develop a plan of action. Projet Montréal’s failure to develop such a plan allows the Brotherhood and its allies to define the debate about policing in Montreal — to the detriment of everyone. Any new evidence of unsafety (or even the perception of unsafety) is used by the Brotherhood to argue for more police, Ensemble Montréal and much of the media join the chorus and Projet’s only response is to say that Montreal remains a safe city.

That is, until the party does exactly what the Brotherhood demands.

Since 2020, Projet has increased the police budget more than any city in Canada. It is a liberal political party, with the most right-wing safety policy in the country.

Montreal is a progressive city with the most right-wing policing policy in Canada

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