Montreal’s mayor says she’s encouraged by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promise to act on gun violence.
In an interview with the “Fox News Sunday” Christiane Amanpour, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says she supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s idea of addressing all forms of illegal gun violence.
Trump, on a recent trip to Pennsylvania, called on the United States to “stop being soft on illegal immigration and stop being so soft on gun violence.”
When she was asked about it in the “Fox News Sunday” interview, Plante said that she agreed with Trump’s comments.
“I agree that, yes, we’ve got to figure out ways to better manage access to guns. And yes, all forms of illegal firearms have to be investigated and stopped,” she said.
It’s no secret that Canada has a significant problem with gun violence. The country’s rate of gun homicides is 13 times higher than the United States, though Canada has only one-third the population of the U.S.
Plante added that since becoming mayor in November 2017, she has addressed gun violence in her city.
On her platform, she said she promised to “push for the arrest of individuals on charges of possession and use of restricted firearms and assault weapons.”
“This year, every day, we stopped more than 150 illegal firearms from leaving the city,” she said.
Though there have been some recent cases of both illegal and legal guns used in some of Montreal’s crime, Plante said it’s important to emphasize that her city’s biggest challenge now is illegal guns.
“Right now, the biggest concern is how to take back those illegal guns,” she said.
Amanpour asked Plante if she was surprised by Trump’s comments, given that Plante has railed against immigration and Trump’s travel ban.
“No, I’m not,” she said. “I’m not surprised, because I have a large immigrant population in my city. They are one of our strongest economies.”
The mayor added that her city is concerned about illegal immigration and illegal guns. She noted that it’s not a U.S. problem — and that it’s a Canadian issue.
Amanpour then asked Plante if she could have done more to stop the gun violence, like Trump suggested, by shutting down illegal crossings or by creating a fence around her city.
“No,” Plante responded. “I asked every Canadian that moved here to take a test. I said, if you know the laws of Canada or know the regulations of Canada, you have to come.”
“Let’s protect our citizens,” she said. “Let’s make sure that those who know that they are breaking the law are brought to justice.”