Chinatown residents and merchants distribute free mooncakes to encourage public safety

Residents and merchants from Montreal’s Chinatown are handing out free mooncakes Tuesday morning to promote public security in the neighbourhood – for the second year in a row.

Under the theme of “Celebrating the Autumn Moon Festival in harmony, security and solidarity,” the event is being held at Sun Yat Sen Park.

It’s organized by the Chinatown Residents’ Association (ARQC), the Chinese Association of Montreal (CAM), the Chinatown Economic Development and CRARR, alongside local businesses.

“We’ve definitely seen progress: streets are cleaner and a lot more safe. We’re not out of the woods yet. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we’re very thankful basically for partners with the SPVM for all the help that they’ve given us,” said Phil Chu, director of the ARQC.

“We’re working with along with all the condo boards across the co-ops, all the residents in the neighborhood and the sentiment was the same : they needed help and a voice to discuss with the police and the government levels to make sure our voices are heard and that’s why we started the ARQC.”

Montreal police (SPVM) officers are also present at the event to support the community.

This comes after several Chinatown residents have raised awareness about the ongoing homeless population and public safety concerns in the area.

They also created an association to demand more accountability and action from all three levels of government about the issues they are facing in Chinatown.

“About a year, a year and a half ago, there was drug dealing, there’s homeless, and you know, the street was filtered. So I think that after a year of work, and I think that we see results mostly with cooperation with the SPVM, and I have a lot of nice things to say about them. But we’re going to continue to try to make sure that Chinatown is safe and clean,” said Bill Wong, Director of Montreal Chinatown Development Council.