Armed violence in Montreal must be a key campaign issue, according to the Parti Québécois, which notably promises to hire 100 new police officers in its plan to combat this scourge.
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“We want to sound the alarm on the problem of gun violence. We are clearly losing the calm, peaceful and secure character that makes Quebec what it is,” argues PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon in an interview with the Journal.
The Independence Party has unveiled a solid plan to tackle gun violence in the province ahead of October’s elections.
“We want to make it a campaign theme that resonates,” explains Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon, who runs in East Montreal’s Bourget riding.
centaur
The Parti Québécois (PQ) is proposing to double the amounts already invested in the Centaure provincial strategy to hire about 100 new police officers to fight gun violence.
Developed in September 2021, this strategy has produced results that hardly impress Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon.
“We managed to confiscate only 400 guns. The pace is clearly not fast enough given the proliferation of firearms in society. »
At the borders
The party’s pledged increase in resources would target Montreal, PQ said, but also the frontiers where the provincial government can do more if it doesn’t have the powers of an independent country. In particular, he suggests forming a mixed squad along the borders in cooperation with local police to improve patrols.
The PQ also pledge to create a “new envelope” for prevention initiatives in schools in violent neighborhoods, without specifying the amount.
Eventually, the party promises to pass Quebec law establishing a registry of criminal organizations. A proposal by the Bloc Québécois had already failed in Ottawa and would have imposed prison sentences of up to two years for anyone identifying with a criminal group.
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