Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that gun and gang violence in Surrey is a priority for his government.
“We’re going to be talking about how we can give you the tools and give our community the tools to be more successful in the coming years and overcome some of the challenges we are facing and give everyone a real and fair chance to succeed,” he said.
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Trudeau made the comments during a roundtable in Surrey, with teens aged 13 to 18 who have been impacted by gun violence.
“Obviously there are significant challenges facing youth in Surrey issues around guns and gangs and that is the headline we are here to talk about but more than that I want to hear from you around the issues you are facing and where we can do a better job as a society of giving you the tools to figure out how you, your friends and your schools and your community can do better,” he said.
Trudeau met for hours with various community groups, including organizers of the massive “Wake Up Surrey” rally held in June after the murders of two teenaged boys.
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Those who met with him in Surrey on Tuesday are confident that help is on the way.
Wake Up Surrey spokesperson Suki Sandhu wants to see increased funding for programs to keep kids out of trouble and away from gangs, and is also demanding a federal task force on gun violence.
“We wanted a commitment that this is a priority for the feds,” Sandhu said.
Sandhu noted that the federal government had announced $326 million to tackle gun violence in November.
“We want to know when that money is coming,” Sandhu said.
“The prime minister gave us reassurance that this is a priority for the feds.”
Trudeau also met with teenager Aaron Singh, who said kids need to be kept busy.
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“I basically told him about how youth are, they kind of need to be understood more and valued and like what their role is in Surrey,” he said.
Singh suggested “after school programs, free programs, because a lot of these people come from lower-class sort of families so they can’t afford a lot of these expensive programs.”