Federal Public Security Minister, Stockwell Day, as well as the minister responsible for the Montreal region, Michael Fortier, and local MNA Jacques Dupuis, say they want to help at risk youth by having them take part in crime prevention workshops. (Photo: Jacques Pharand)
Preventing intimidation among youth
Over the next four years, students in Bordeaux-Cartierville schools will have the chance to take part in activities, such as conflict-resolution workshops, aimed at preventing intimidation.
Federal Public Security Minister Stockwell Day was accompanied by Michael Fortier, the minister in charge of the Montreal region, and Saint-Laurent MNA Jacques Dupuis last Monday when he announced a joint federal-provincial subsidy worth $500,000 to the Table de concertation jeunesse de Bordeaux-Cartierville for its project, Un milieu ouvert sur ses écoles.
The grant coincides with another for $10 million which will go toward financing local crime prevention initiatives related to street gangs in Quebec.
“The Canadian government is proud to support projects such as Un milieu ouvert sur ses écoles to give young people at risk the necessary tools to make better choices and put them on the right path,� said Day.
Dupuis congratulated local community workers in the field, who orient their actions to help young people resist temptations. “The reality is that children between the ages of 5 and 15 are lured into prostitution, drug trafficking and street gangs,� he said.
According to Georges Fournier, coordinator of École en santé, a program run by the CSSS de Bordeaux-Cartierville—Saint-Laurent, the project will allow for the hiring of more community workers in the seven schools in Bordeaux-Cartierville, as well as a Psycho-Educator, who will run the anti-intimidation workshops. “We’re talking about a large-scale prevention effort in the schools that will also include sustained intervention to groups of aggressors as well as those who are the victims of aggression.�
A multi-layered initiative
According to Martin Laviolette, the person in charge of clientele developpment at the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough, the subsidy will cover about one quarter of the cost of the entire project, which will run over four years. It’s worth noting that one aspect of the project deals with the prevention of intimidation. “The challenge is to get the financial partners to see the benefit of funding the project,� he said.
The project, initially set up in 2002, will also focus on nutrition. The École en santé approach will, for instance, be implemented in each of the schools.
Local MP Maria Mourani, who is also the author of La face cachée des gangs de rue about street gangs in Montreal, says she is pleased by the announcement to fund the Table de concertation jeunesse de Bordeaux-Cartierville, which has been waiting for financial aid for the past year. “I’m very happy that finally we are recognizing the work done by these people on the ground. We’re beginning to understand that we have to focus on prevention. We don’t do enough. Quebec is quite behind on this issue, as is Canada,� she said.Translated by Anna Bratulic
Météo: Montréal, 20 juillet 2008 / 22°C
/ Faibles averses de pluie
/ Vents: 11 Km/h / Humidité relative: 78 % 
par Véronique Leduc 
Steven Guilbeault - Chronique environnement
Richard Cléroux - Le fouineur politique
