City's Official Opposition Calls Out City's Handling of Public Safety and Housing

The City of Montreal's opposition questions Valerie Plante's administrations' handling of the Montreal police (SPVM) and safety of the city following two back-to-back incidences of gun violence this past week.

On Tuesday afternoon, a man was gunned down in the parking lot of Rockland shopping centre in the Town of Mount Royal. 30 minutes later, a second man was shot and killed in a restaurant in the borough of Ville-Marie.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante linked these homicides to criminal activity in the city and said that her administration will now allow these incidences to continue. 

The Plante administration's Official Opposition, Ensemble Montreal, questioned Plante's handling of security and safety in the city and cited some of her former election promises – including Plante's hiring of 250 officers.Currently, the city has only hired 229 new officers, with some officers having left the position. The interim police chief, Sophie Roy, said Montreal has enough officers to serve.

Ensemble said the city needs to focus on hiring more police officers, citing that Montrealers do not feel safe given recent events. Montreal executive committee member Alain Vaillancourt clapped back at Ensemble, stating that they do not respect the SPVM.

Ensemble also called Plante's administration for lack of action towards rising rent prices in Montreal.

Montreal-North councillor and leader for Ensemble Montreal Chantal Rossi said tenants are facing issues with their current rents getting higher. She says there have been cases of tenants being notified of rent increases following months of paying their former price and then being asked by landlords to pay an invoice that was left unpaid. 

Ensemble also called out the amount of people who were left homeless following July 1 – the biggest moving date in Montreal.