%20(1).webp)
When community workers knocked on La Converse's door a few weeks ago, the urgency of the situation was immediately clear. "We need to find a solution, we need to create dialogue," they said. The pressing issue? The increasing violence among some teenagers in Montreal, driven by gangs and disproportionately affecting racialized communities.
On a warm autumn evening, youth workers Andrew Joseph, Salim El Asri, Myriam Coppry, Riguerre Antoine, Abdellah Azzouz, and Mohamed Mimoun, along with parents, discussed the rising issue of gun violence impacting more young people.
Too Many "Rest in Peace" Proclamations
In recent years, if you live in Montreal or its surroundings, it’s been hard to overlook a troubling phenomenon: the growing number of young victims of violence increasingly plaguing the streets of the metropolis.
It’s hard to forget Meriem Boundaoui, 15 years old, killed by a stray bullet while sitting in a vehicle in broad daylight in the Saint-Léonard borough on February 7, 2021.
A few months later, on November 14, 2021, Thomas Trudel, 16, was murdered while walking home in Saint-Michel.
On the evening of January 13, 2022, Amir Benayad, 17, was shot and killed in a park in Plateau-Mont-Royal.
Mehdi Moussaoui, 14, and Marley St-Surin, 16, succumbed to their injuries following a car crash in the early morning after they had fired shots at passersby on March 28, 2024.
Mohamed-Yanis Seghouani, a 14-year-old Montrealer, was found near a hideout of a criminal biker gang in Beauce on September 17, 2024. He was armed.
These are just a few of the dozens of young people who have lost their lives in the context of armed violence in Montreal over the past few years. What has happened to these youths? And how has such a troubling environment taken root—particularly among adolescents and young adults from diverse backgrounds? Experts and community workers discuss the issue.
What's happening in Montreal?
"It's complex," answers Andrew Joseph. He works for Équipe RDP, an NGO created in 1990 in Rivière-des-Prairies to combat juvenile delinquency, and he works closely with the youth in his neighborhood, so he knows well what they experience daily. He also coaches sports teams made up of high school students in Montréal-Nord. For him, young people are under immense pressure, both personally and socially. "Teenagers live lives very different from ours. They are a completely new generation facing different challenges," he says.
To understand the youth, we must look at the society in which they are growing up, continues Joseph. "Today, they’re surviving more than they are living," he says. "What we promise them is often very different from what they experience. For example, they’re taught in childhood that once they reach adulthood, they’ll find jobs and won’t have problems if they follow the rules. But then, when they turn 16, 17, 18, no one hires them, and they often feel excluded," he explains. He notes that this is often a problem faced by racialized youth.
"At that point, it becomes very easy for a young person to turn to something else. Unconsciously, they feel like they can’t integrate, like finding a job, for example. They start looking for ways to get what they want, how to fill their free time; and that’s when they become vulnerable and impressionable," he adds quickly. Easy money then becomes an option for some, drawn by the lure of fast cash.
Abdellah Azzouz, a worker at the Saint-Michel Youth Forum, agrees but offers a slightly different perspective from his Rivière-des-Prairies colleague. "A lot is happening with young people. We can try to explain the negative, as Andrew did, but we can also recognize the positive and try to spread it," he says with optimism.
Of Algerian origin and 25 years old, Azzouz, known by his last name, is well-known among the youth in his neighborhood, mostly of Maghrebi descent. He shares some of the feelings teenagers experience, such as frustration, anger, and exclusion, having grown up in a stigmatized neighborhood himself. However, he chooses to focus on the teens' potential. "We’re seeing young people change and become different people. Young people who come up with ideas and want the authorities to listen to them instead of talking about them," he notes.
Not all young people commit crimes for the same reasons, he points out. "In the immediate term, some do it for money. However, most don’t do it for the money, but to gain recognition from their peers and increase the sense of belonging they might not find elsewhere," he analyzes.
Empowering Parents Without Blaming Them
Myriam Coppry is a coach for parents from diverse backgrounds. For several years, she has been working with parents who, often left to their own devices, find themselves in a state of great discouragement when dealing with the Youth Protection Directorate (DPJ).
"If there’s one thing I condemn, it’s that there is very little or no room given to parents when discussing interventions with young people," she quickly states. She doesn’t understand how isolating parents could help their children. However, she knows it only worsens the situation. "We are dealing with parents abandoned by the system, who don’t know what to do to remedy the situation, and who sometimes don’t even understand what the situation is!" she exclaims.
For the coach, it is unacceptable that parents are not informed about the intervention plans being prepared for their children. "We can’t solve a problem if we break the bond. We must always maintain the connection—between parents and children, between parents and the system," she asserts, readjusting her glasses on her nose.
"For a few months now, I’ve been hearing everywhere: 'Where are the parents? How could they not know that their children were involved in criminal activities? It’s up to the parents to take good care of their youth so this doesn’t happen again.'" She believes that this accusation against parents only adds fuel to the fire. "We can’t blame them when harm is done and then push them aside when it’s time to find a solution. That’s hypocrisy," she states firmly. "We need to learn to empower parents without blaming them."
Now it’s Mohamed Mimoun's turn to speak. The coordinator of the Saint-Michel Youth Forum is no stranger to speaking out; in Montreal, he is a true pillar for both the youth and Maghrebi parents facing the phenomenon of youth violence.
"Safety is an issue that concerns everyone. But when we talk about combating violence, what worries me is how this safety becomes a tool in the hands of some," he begins. Even though he speaks softly, the family man has a seriousness in his voice that commands respect. "Currently, some parents are afraid to ask for help for their youth because they fear their children will be taken away from them," he reports, indignant.
Some parents he works with are wary of the police and institutions in general, he recounts. "It may seem like a detail to some, but for others, it can be the cause of losing a child," he bitterly emphasizes.
There is no miracle solution, but...
Riguerre Antoine finally takes the floor. A street worker since 1997 in Rivière-des-Prairies, he is considered a pioneer in youth intervention in his neighborhood.
"When we accept the term 'marginalized,' we are accepting to live on the fringes of society. I refuse that, and I think our youth should accept it even less, especially when we know that, for many, they were born and raised in Montreal," he states vigorously.
Unlike Mr. Mimoun, who spoke just before him, Mr. Antoine's voice resonates powerfully in the studios of La Converse. As some young people in the audience began to lose focus during the interventions, it seemed Riguerre had refocused their attention.
"What’s happening in Montreal isn’t just happening here. Young people have been committing crimes all over the world since the dawn of time," he explains. "We must not think that because we come from Montreal, belong to a racialized community, and are overrepresented in crime reports, it is a condemnation," he says.
"I want to remind the young people that they are at home here. We must not think that we don’t belong to this society, even though sometimes it’s easy to believe," he continues. "Our youth should not live in the margins; they are an integral part of society."
He adds with a shrug, "There may not be a miracle solution, but there is hope and a better future, that’s for sure."
Before anyone else can speak, a wave of applause resonates throughout the room. Workers, youth, parents, and the audience seem to joyfully welcome the words of the Équipe RDP pioneer.
"The miracle solution doesn’t exist," Salim El Asri resumes, as the last claps are heard, "but there are ways to better prevent tragedies."
As the coordinator for street work and prevention at Prévention Pointe-de-l’Île, an organization in the east of the city, he touches on all the themes his interlocutors have addressed over the past hour. "There is a misunderstanding of the system by young people and families, and a huge gap between society and youth: that’s what concerns our young people," he states. "I’m not pulling this information out of thin air; they tell us this themselves," he assures.
Young people are not listened to enough, valued, or considered: that’s the root of the problem, he believes. "Exclusion, from all sides, isolates young people, and the message we send them is that they don’t belong here. Let’s help them and be there for them," he declares with a hint of emotion in his voice.
With 13 years of experience in intervention, Salim has seen it all. The worker from Pointe-aux-Trembles remains sure of one thing: "We love young people, and they need to know that. We think they understand it through our actions, but we need to say it clearly," he asserts passionately.
The evening is drawing to a close. Fatigue begins to set in among the young people who have been present since the start of the discussion. While our guests have all mentioned different aspects regarding the rise in violent crimes among adolescents, they all agree on one point: even though the motivations pushing young people toward delinquency are multiple, "the consequences are the same," Salim reminds them. "And that’s what we need to keep in mind," he adds.