‘Youths are being used,’ Laval’s mayor tells Chamber of Commerce and Industry gathering
Following a renewed crime wave in Laval involving the extortion and intimidation of local businesses, Mayor Stéphane Boyer told a meeting of Laval Chamber of Commerce and Industry stakeholders earlier this month that he’s hoping Prime Minister Mark Carney will amend the criminal code so that Laval and other cities can better defend their businesses and residents.
As the CCIL’s members entered the final stretch of a year marked by both major challenges and significant progress for businesses, industries and merchants, the CCIL hosted seven mayors at the Laval Sheraton for the CCIL’s last political forum of the season.
Vision and priorities
On December 4, they welcomed Mayor Boyer as their guest of honour. He presented his vision, priorities, while previewing some of the major projects to shape Laval in the coming years.
The invited mayors included Doreen Assaad, Mayor of Brossard, Marc Lamarre, Mayor of Saint-Eustache, Denis Martin, Mayor of Deux-Montagnes, Marie-Elaine Pitre, Mayor of Rosemère, Liza Poulin, Mayor of Blainville, and Guillaume Tremblay, Mayor of Mascouche.
“Their presence clearly demonstrates the regional interest in the issues facing Laval,” the CCIL said in a statement. “It also serves as a reminder that our development has a direct impact on the entire surrounding region, where the challenges related to mobility, the workforce, planning and growth are all closely interconnected.”
Says Laval is short-changed
In an address to the CCIL members, Mayor Boyer maintained that the City of Laval receives far less in subsidies from the provincial government than Quebec’s other major cities. The Laval region is the region where there is the least investment in Quebec on a per-resident basis, he asserted.
While most regions of the province received subsidies ranging from a few thousand dollars up to $15,000 per resident, with Montreal and Quebec City getting up to $20-$25 thousand per inhabitant, Laval receives just $9,000, according to Boyer.
“This is something which is happening year after year and it’s something that has to change,” he said. “Laval is now the third-largest city in Quebec, but we receive very little from the government.”
Projet Vigilance initiative
The gathering was taking place just a day or two after the Laval Police launched Projet Vigilance, a law enforcement initiative dealing with an upsurge of extortions against restaurant and business owners primarily in Laval’s Chomedey district.
“This is something that is resurging at this moment in Laval, Montreal and on the South Shore,” said Mayor Boyer, alluding to the fact Laval saw a surge in similar crimes a few years back which was successfully dealt with for a time by the police before the latest escalation.
“We are seeing something happening in organized crime where certain groups are struggling to make a place for themselves,” he continued. “We are working very hard at the police service but also at other levels to get a handle on this phenomenon. We have more police officers, we are ready to reinforce resources for investigations, more police presence on the streets, more prevention among youths.”
Underage law breakers
With that, Mayor Boyer also noted a tactic increasingly being used by organized criminals: they recruit adolescents to carry out intimidation and threats, without the legal consequences they would normally be subject to as adults.
Longueuil police said last week that they had made two arrests in connection with a scheme that targeted several restaurants in Saint-Lambert. The threats involved bullets left in envelopes, arson attempts and threats demanding thousands of dollars.
The investigation began after a 16-year-old was sent last summer into three Saint-Lambert businesses to deliver envelopes containing bullets and handwritten threats demanding between $5,000 and $7,500.
Within weeks, the threats escalated. An attempted arson was reported the following month. A window at a nearby restaurant was also smashed, and a fire was set, causing damage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No severe penalties, says Boyer
Mayor Boyer said he had recently spoken with Prime Minister Mark Carney to request amendments to the federal criminal code in order to address the situation.
“The criminal code must be revised, because at this moment youths are being used by these people without severe penalties,” said Boyer.
“As with prostitution where women are being exploited, there should also be sentences which are exemplary to be as effective as possible. I think the law must be changed in the same way, so that someone who is exploiting teens to commit crimes against businesses should also be treated in an exemplary fashion.”
