Tuesday's rally followed two violent incidents in the neighbourhood since the start of July.
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For the residents of Montreal’s Little Burgundy neighbourhood, Tuesday’s march for peace was a way of taking back the community.
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“We are not asking for anyone to take it the wrong way,” said Patricia Oliver, the president of Coalition de la Petite-Bourgogne, who organized the march. “But we’d like to be free to play in the park, bring the family, sit on your balcony, sit outside in the front, take a walk down the street.”
An increase in gun violence across the island of Montreal has caused concern in various boroughs, including the Sud-Ouest, where a 21-year-old man was found shot to death in a car near the intersection of Canning and Workman Sts. this month. On Sunday, a woman was injured when a shot was fired at a parked car on Dominion St., near Quesnel St., just a few blocks away from the site of the previous incident.
“It’s created a feeling of insecurity in the community,” said Julie Rainville, a co-ordinator at the coalition. “People are wondering, ‘Am I safe when I go to the corner dépanneur? Am I safe when I’m on the street? Are my children safe?’ ”
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Chanting “no more guns, no more violence” and singing songs of peace, the citizens, community organizers, local politicians and police officers marched through Little Burgundy in solidarity, pausing only to remember the victims at the scenes of both incidents. Standing in the parking lot where the young man was killed, his father, who led the march alongside a few others, remembered him fondly. The group said a prayer in his memory.
“We’re going to walk for peace and we’re going to walk because we believe we can make a better world,” said Youth in Motion director Michael P. Farkas ahead of the march. “Things have started getting hectic and people are losing confidence because they just don’t know where the gunshots are coming from.”
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Local Montreal police chief Jean-Marc Schanzenbach said recent events in the borough appear to be linked to a conflict between rival gangs.
“We’re not different from the rest of the island. That being said, we have seen a little increase in the past few weeks,” he said. “I’d say since deconfinement, we’ve noticed an increase in incidents related to this type of crime involving firearms.”
Schanzenbach said the force has increased its presence in the area to discourage similar events in the future.
“We’re working very hard with our collaborators, our partners in the community centres, to make sure the population is safe,” he said. “It’s always worrisome to have incidents of this type. … That’s why we’re putting forward different actions, and that’s why I’m walking with citizens today and our partners.”
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In addition to calls for peace, those who marched Tuesday are calling for better resources for younger generations to lead them away from crime.
“There’s always been some (gun violence) associated with organized crime, so that’s pretty constant, but when it’s younger people — even though it may be some form of gang activity or not, it’s very difficult to accept that young people are learning to express themselves that way, and it’s very worrisome for the future,” said Jonathan, a Sud-Ouest resident who preferred not to give his last name.
Sud-Ouest Mayor Benoit Dorais said prevention is part of the borough’s plan.
“The borough is working personally, the councillors, also the civil servants are working with the community, with the non-profit organizations; we are working on the prevention,” he said. “And also, to work together with the police — it’s important to join the two, prevention and crime fighting.”
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But for mayoral candidate and Movement Montreal Leader Balarama Holness, who attended the march with some of the party’s candidates, prevention means investing in youth instead of police.
He believes the “law and order” approach fuels the problem of gun violence rather than solving it.
“We need to ensure that we do a broad effort across municipal, provincial and federal government — all levels — to ensure that we’re helping young people,” he said. “And this is really a clarion call for help, when someone commits an act of violence specifically with a firearm. … It’s telling all of us that we need to do better.”
Holness’s plan involves reallocating funding from the police budget to things like health and social services, housing and green spaces, among others.
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“It’s a concerted effort, to tackle violence: it’s something that’s going to take all of us to ensure that our young people actually become productive members of society,” he said. “How do we do that? Better leisure, recreational, sports infrastructure, more health and social services, sports coaches, helping community organizations, better funding for community organizations.”
Members of Ensemble Montreal also attended the march.
“The increase in violence and shootings in Montreal is not acceptable,” the party wrote on Twitter. “The city can no longer remain a spectator. It must act and allocate the necessary resources to live together in peace.”
'No more guns, no more violence': Little Burgundy marches for peace - Montreal Gazette
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