Mayor Plante Warned Of Becoming An 'American-Style Society' When It Comes To Gun Violence

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, accompanied by the mayors of Quebec's other four major cities, put out a statement on Tuesday imploring the Federal government to make a "firm commitment" to fight gun violence and gun trafficking.

"What we want is a clear plan [...] either we head towards an American-style society where the use of guns becomes banal and tragedies happen daily or the federal [government] takes responsibility" and acts on the issue, Plante said at a press conference.

"Cities are taking responsibility and continuing to do everything in their power to prevent violence, fight organized crime and keep our communities safe," the mayors said in a joint statement shared with MTL Blog.

"But we cannot do it all alone. We need a concerted, comprehensive, pan-Canadian effort."

The mayors cited the need to give more resources and funding to policing efforts like the border services or local law enforcement to fight against a surge of gun violence and gun trafficking.

Montreal, for its part, recently upped the funding of the SPVM by $5.5 million.

The City says this funding will allow the SPVM to hire 42 new people, both officers and civilian workers, to reinforce investigative teams and "the fight against criminal groups."