Montreal commits more money to the SPVM in 2022

The Finance and Administration Commission met to address Montreal’s 2022 budget, where many points were addressed, but most notably, the council voted in favour of increasing the SPVM’s budget. Many concerned citizens voiced their disapproval of the situation.

During the public period, one concerned citizen mentioned that the majority of Montrealers are in favour of reducing the budget of the SPVM to better fund social and support services, as community needs have increased while Montrealers are still faced with urgent crises such as the housing, climate and the pandemic. They asked, “What justifies the SPVM’s budget increase when research shows that non-police community programs that take a holistic approach to community safety have positive results?” The council clarified that both priorities are focused on within the budget, but they do not need to cut the SPVM’s budget to allocate money towards other funds. They stated that funding in the community sector to address these issues has been doubled and programs will be implemented next year, stating that there needs to be a strong SPVM to address issues in the streets of Montreal, which cannot be done by decreasing the budget, which is why the budget was doubled.

The city is not planning to disarm the SPVM, as some community members have called for this, instead they will focus on how SPVM officers address situations to push them away from repression, citing mixed squads, including social workers among police visits. The city cites this as the reason for adding $20 million within four years to the intervention organizations budget. 

Quebec's domestic violence rate grew in 2021, as the pandemic led to some victims being isolated with their abusers. Within 8 weeks in the Spring of 2021, 8 women were murdered classified as femicides. Some of these deaths took place in Montreal. Little money was put towards the prevention of domestic violence, while $1 billion was put towards public safety. In the $1 billion that goes towards police, this includes the fire department, and the city clarifies that addressing domestic violence is included within this budget.