Quebec pledges $625K to prevent youth delinquency in Saint-Lonard

The Quebec government is betting that spending more money on programs for at-risk youth will help keep them out of trouble with the law or drawn into extreme religious or social movements.

Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux announced the government will invest$625,000 over five years into preventing youth delinquency in the northern Montreal borough ofSaint-Lonard.

"We want youth to reach their full potential," saidCoiteuxata news conference at the downtown Montreal YMCA.

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The money is tobe allocated to the YMCA's youth drop-in program in Saint-Lonard, as well as mentorship opportunities andprograms such as one that connects students who havebeen suspended from school with youth workers at the Y.

"This aid will help our existing intervention programs that we offer youth in the neighbourhood," said the YMCA'sMontreal president,StphaneVaillancourt.

Coiteux saidmore funds are available to help other groups working on similar projects in other communities.

What about middle-class teens?

However, critics say that money isn't likely to help alienatedteens from middle-class backgrounds who need help, too.

"All the young kids who come to the YMCA are looking for something to do. But what about the other ones who go home and go on the Internet?" asked Marie Lamensch, who researches radicalizationatConcordiaUniversity'sInstitute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies

She said more and more middle class kids are deciding to join ISIS because it offers them a feeling of belonging and identity.

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