The Quebec government will spend $65 million over the next three years to fight against firearms trafficking and criminal groups.
The announcement was made Tuesday morning by Quebec public security minister Geneviève Guilbault, alongside the heads of the Sûreté du Québec, Montreal police and Quebec City Police.
“We’re giving great means to our police forces to be able to battle this firearm violence and organized crime,” Guilbault said.
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Four specialized squads within the three forces will share $27 million of funding from the federal initiative to take action against gun and gang violence. More specifically, $19.5 million will go to Quebec provincial police, more than $4 million will go to the Montreal police and $3.9 million to the Quebec City police.
“We found that putting this money together could really help the squads, policemen and policewomen fight the problem directly at the source,” Guilbault said.
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The rest of the funds will be given to cross-police force teams specialized in fighting organized crime.
The funding announced on Tuesday is in addition to the $32.5 million announced last March in the 2020-21 provincial budget.
— With files from the Canadian Press
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