City of Montreal allocates record $30 million for violence prevention

The Plante administration has announced $30 million of financing directed toward violence prevention, equity and safety for Montreal with a greater focus on youth safety and fairness.

“To ensure safety in Montreal and prevent violence, we must take action, which improves, at the source, the living conditions of young people. Today we announce significant investments in quality facilities, as well as for youth projects, sports and cultural activities. It is essential to work upstream to give our young people every chance to succeed,” said the Mayor of Montreal, Valerie Plante.

The City of Montreal has also confirmed $7 million for a new program ‘By and for the Youth’ that specifically focuses on youth and youth-led initiatives in collaboration with community organizations for raising awareness, the purchase of equipment as well as social, sporting and cultural events.

“Young people have ideas that must be listened to in order for them to feel rooted in their community and give them every chance to succeed,” commented the speaker and coordinator of the Youth Forum of Saint-Michel, Mohammed Nordine Mimoun.

Through the ‘By and For Youth’ program, the City hopes to mobilize young people towards the improvement of their living environments in order to prevent violence. $5 million dollars of the budget will fund infrastructure that meets the needs of young people aged 0 to 30 years, such as sports facilities, pump tracks, green alley projects and urban agriculture.

The city’s official opposition isn’t impressed with the announcement, claiming it’s been recycled from another announcement made last March.

“This is yet another communication operation on the part of Projet Montréal, which is trying to hide its lack of proactivity in terms of public safety, both at a coercive and preventive level,” said Abdelhaq Sari, spokesperson on public security for Montreal’s official opposition. “They only offer young people the opportunity to contribute to one-off projects without planning a real long-term vision. If the Plante administration had really wanted to listen to young people and offer them tools to have fun, it would have offered them the sports center it promised them in Montreal North and which they have been waiting for too long.”

The first call for submission starts today and will run until November 30, 2022. Young people are invited to submit projects with the support of community organizations. Support will be offered to young people and organizations that wish to submit projects. The selection period will take place from January 1 to December 31, 2023.

“We must respect young people, trust them and provide opportunities to get involved in their own way,” added Abdallah Azzouz, a young speaker at the Saint-Michel Youth Forum.

Montrealers are invited to present ideas, until December 4, 2022, for municipal facilities or equipment that meet one of the three themes identified in this participatory budget, i.e. youth, equity and security. The City is committed to beginning the implementation of winning projects within two years of their unveiling, which is scheduled for the end of the year 2023.