The City of Montréal today announced an exceptional investment of $1.4 million to support the boroughs of Montréal-Nord, Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles and Saint-Léonard, as well as the Saint-Michel district. These funds will support community organizations active on the ground in order to develop projects aimed at strengthening urban security and improving the quality of life of the populations in these neighbourhoods, which have been dealing with violent events in recent months.
The boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles will each receive $400,000. The borough of Saint-Léonard will get $200,000, as will the Saint-Michel district. An additional $200,000 will be dedicated to inter-borough initiatives that will promote cooperation and collaboration between boroughs to help prevent violent events. These investments are in addition to the exceptional work done by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) to ensure the safety of Montrealers.
"We are very concerned about the violent incidents of the last few months and we take the situation very seriously. Over the past few weeks, I have been on the ground to meet with community actors and understand their needs. The funds we are announcing today will allow community organizations in the four sectors of the city most affected by the increase in violent events to intervene quickly with young people and ensure their safety. Their actions will also contribute to improving the quality of life in the neighbourhoods concerned, which is one of the keys to effectively tackle violence. The City of Montréal and the SPVM are doing everything in their power to fight violence, but we need the support of the governments of Quebec and Canada to meet all the needs that are being expressed on the ground," said Montréal Mayor, Valérie Plante.
"Montreal is known for its quality of life and the security it offers its population. We are determined to protect this characteristic and will continue to work with our partners to do so. We must redouble our efforts to support local organizations that do remarkable work under very difficult conditions. We are confident that the funds announced today will support the work of community organizations on the ground to prevent violence and that the start of operations of the Anti-Gun Trafficking Squad will strengthen security in the neighbourhoods of northeast Montreal, whose population has suffered too much recently," said Caroline Bourgeois, Mayor of Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles and responsible for public safety on the Executive Committee.
Exceptional investment of $1.4 million
Montréal-Nord: $400,000
Rivière-des-Prairies-Pointe-aux-Trembles: $400,000
Saint-Léonard: $200,000
Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension: $200,000
Inter-borough initiatives: $200,000