From sworn enemies to business partners
The last street gang-related murder in Montreal dates back to 2016, while in Toronto it is the root cause of a record of 96 homicides in 2018

Settling scores between street gangs has exploded the number of murders in the country in two years. It's the opposite in Quebec, where once-enemy gangs have become unlikely business partners.

It's so rare that we talk about street gangs that it's a bit like they did not exist anymore! "Says René-André Brisebois, who gives the course" Gang Phenomenon "at the University of Montreal.
According to the adage "unity is strength", the first street gangs appeared more than 30 years ago in Montreal "in response to discrimination or racism", before embarking on crime, d after this criminologist.
In 2012, long-time rival bands pushed the saying further.
Under the rule of Gregory Woolley, the only black gangster to have been admitted to the Hells Angels family, they were convinced to unite in an economic alliance with bikers and mafia factions.

They realized that there was room for everyone [in the criminal market] and that they could make more money through business associations. It is no longer a question of respecting colors, but rather of maximizing profits, "said Major David Bertrand of the Organized Crime Division of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM).
In 2017 and 2018, out of a total of 15 murders attributable to organized crime in Montreal, Major Bertrand confirmed to the Journal that no one is connected to street gangs.
"They have learned to do business together, often in lucrative niches like pimping and fraud, where police investigations are difficult to conduct. They are less visible than before and attract less police heat, "said René-André Brisebois.
There is no criminal alliance of such magnitude anywhere in Canada, according to our information.
The longest lull
A dozen years ago, the Bloods (Red) of Montreal-North, the Crips (Bleus) of Saint-Michel and the many Posse of Jamaican origin in the West Island of Montreal fired on each other every week.
"It was war. But street gangs are definitely in the most peaceful period I've seen in Montreal, "says Harry Delva, a gang and street worker in the Saint-Michel neighborhood for 30 years.
He never thought that was possible, according to Mr. Delva's testimony before a committee of members in Ottawa on January 30, 2007.
Not the right color
"Will we be able to stop all this? Me, I tell you in advance that no, unfortunately, "he said recalling that these young people having" nothing to lose "clashed" in the streets, around schools and parks. "
On the afternoon of October 28, 2005, 17-year-old Patricio Astudillo was stabbed to death in front of a Cartierville high school for displaying his "blue" allegiance to his attackers on the Blood's red bandana.
" It was crazy. You could die if you did not wear the right colors. There have been a hundred deaths for that in Montreal, "said Detective Sergeant Jean-Claude Gauthier.
During these troubled years, the former expert on street gangs at the SPVM compiled "on a whiteboard" the list of murders and attempted murders, their dates and locations, the names of targets and suspects.