Through music and dialogue, a community remembers

Montreal North's Hoodstock festival helps heal wounds

by ELIZABETH FAURE

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former angmembers told their stories

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PHOTOS JACQUES BALAYLA

One year after the shooting death of Fredy Villanueva at the hands of Montreal police officers in Montreal North, tensions in the neighbourhood remain. At Hoodstock, an event in early August planned by community organizers to commemorate Villanueva’s death, attendees mourned Villanueva and expressed frustration with the ongoing inquiry into his death.

The two-day festival took place in Park Aimé-Léonard. On Saturday, August 9, a series of afternoon workshops dealing with topics such as gang violence and racial profiling was held, followed by an evening of hip-hop music. A march was held the next day, where hundreds walked from the park to the nearby parking lot where Villanueva died.

Villanueva, 18, was playing dice with his brother Dany and a group of friends in the local parking lot on August 9, 2008, when they were approached by two police officers. What happened next remains unclear—the officers claim that the youths became violent when they tried to arrest Fredy’s brother. But the youths claim that the officers were never threatened—they merely asked why Dany was being arrested. Either way, within minutes, Fredy Villaneuva was dead, struck by three bullets fired by Constable Jean-Loup Lapointe.

“Fredy was going to CEGEP, he had a good job, and he had no dossier [criminal record],” said Hoodstock attendee Louise Chartier, a mother whose children attended school with the Villanueva kids. Chartier moved to Montreal North from the Saint-Sauveur area years ago. She has seen first-hand the problems experienced by young people in the area.

“Coming from the Laurentians, I always thought the police were here to protect us, but I’ve seen so many incidents here in the park,” Chartier said. With sadness in her eyes, she remembers Villanueva as a young man full of potential. “I’m just trying to understand,” she said quietly.

Villanueva’s death triggered riots in the area the following day. The police officers involved were not charged, and were cleared of wrongdoing by the police force following an internal investigation. A provincial inquiry was launched to investigate the shooting.

One year later, the inquiry has hit repeated roadblocks. Montreal North community groups have pressured the government to broaden the scope of the inquiry to include such issues as racial profiling, and lawyers for young witnesses who successfully demanded that the government pay their legal fees.

“From the beginning, there has been a lack of leadership from the government,” said Hoodstock organizer Will Prosper. “For the government to say that the police officers acted correctly and for the police to investigate themselves has forced people to fight for justice, which they should never have to do.”

Prosper points to the high level of poverty in Montreal North as the source of neighbourhood difficulties, noting that 40 per cent of the population here live below the poverty line. “There is still more to be done,” he said. “The solution is not to finance more police.” Instead, Prosper wants to see the government put more money into education and job creation for local residents.

Rosa Bautista, another workshop attendee, agrees.

“Education, communication and togetherness are power,” she said. For Bautista, Villaneuva’s death struck a personal chord. “What happened to Fredy. To see this tragic end ... I am a mother, it could have happened to my own son.”

Nevertheless, she sees the possibility of positive change coming to the neighbourhood. “I am a fighter, and I am inspired,” she said. “I want to show my son and the new generation that one person can make a change.”

Chartier agrees that change is coming to Montreal North, but has mixed emotions. “There’s a lot of great kids here, with so much talent and potential, you wouldn’t believe it,” she says sadly. “It’s getting better now, but somebody had to die.”