Quebec opposition parties say Legault hasn't done enough to stop gun violence

Days before Quebec's political parties kick off their official election campaigns, several party leaders are speaking out about gun violence in Montreal and criticizingPremier Franois Legault's methods of addressing it.

Leader for Quebec's Liberal Party (QLP) Dominique Anglade spoke to media Thursday morningoutside theMontreal pizzeria where a man was shot and killed on Tuesdayone of two fatal shootings in the city that day.

She said gun violence in Montreal has reached a crisis level, but Legault is not taking it seriously enough.

"You're not sending the message that you're taking this issue seriously if you're sitting at your desk on a Zoom call and saying we will fix this," she said.

"You have to come on the ground, see what the organizationsare saying and bring up solutions."

On Wednesday, Legaulttweeteda photo of himself on aZoom call with several participants, includingPublic Security Minister Genevive Guilbault, and vowed to takethe necessary steps to "restore order and protect the citizens."

"We will not accept, as a government, that Montreal becomes a shooting range for gangs," he wrote.

Montreal police are still investigating the shootings. The first left 44-year-old Maxime Lenoir dead after he was shot in the parking lot of Rockland Shopping Centre in the Town of Mont Royal (TMR).

The second shooting took place inside a pizzeria on St-Denis Street, in Montreal's central Latin Quarter, about 40 minutes later. The victim was Diego Fiorita, age 50.

If elected premier, she said she would increase the number of police officers on the groundand increase funding for community groups who she said don't have the resources to meet the demand for their services.

Anglade saida Liberal government would also review its financing agreement with Montreal to provide more money to the city for crime prevention.

"It's $90 million that should be invested in prevention," she said.

In a statement, Qubec Solidaire(QS) co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Duboiswas also critical of the premier's response to the frequent gunfire across the city during his term.

"Where was Franois Legault's CAQ during his entire mandate in the National Assembly? Montreal is not, and has never been, a priority for Franois Legault,"Nadeau-Dubois said.

He said the shootings that occurred in the last few days "are the straw that broke the camel's back" and he wants to see action.

Nadeau-Dubois is proposing hiring more psychosocial workers in the communityto free up police officers to focus on the fight against organized crime.

Both the QLP and QS said if elected, their government would put more pressure on Ottawa to speed up a ban on handguns.