As the movement to defund police continues to gain momentum across North America, a coalition of more than twenty Montreal community groups are calling for a 50% cut to the police budget in one of Canada's safest and most over-policed cities. But where would these cuts happen? And how could funding be re-directed?

On this episode Black Lives Matter Montreal organizer Marlihan Lopez, Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal coordinator Jessica Quijano and Stella executive director Sandra Wesley join host Andre Goulet to discuss what defunding and demilitarizing the police would look like, how this process can lead to decolonization and decriminalization, and why re-directing funding and reinvesting in communities are a crucial part of reducing over-policing and police violence in our cities.

Get involved with BLM Montreal at
https://www.facebook.com/blmmontreal/

Learn more about Stella's advocacy work at
https://chezstella.org/en/home/

Support the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal at
http://www.nwsm.info/

'Over Policing in Montreal?' is courtesy of Tina Tenneriello at City News.

This conversation was recorded on July 13th, 2020.