The city of Montreal is scrambling to save its specialized anti-gang squad.

Federal budget cuts are threatening the existence of the Montreal police department's Eclipse squad, and now, the city is requesting a meeting with the federal public safety minister to make the case to maintain its funding.

For the past five years, The Montreal police department's special Eclipse squad has depended on close to $8 million a year from Ottawa to tackle organized crime in the city.

That money will stop coming in in March, and Christian Dubois, the executive committee member responsible for public security, says among the things he wants to tell his federal counterpart Vic Toews, is that he expects the next few months to be busy with gang activity in Montreal.

"We're going to have a difficult spring and summer in organized crime in Montreal," Dubois says. "The return of Rizzuto, a couple of Hells Angels are coming out of jail. We expect it's going to be rough."

The Eclipse squad employs 46 officers. Their job is mainly to gather intelligence on organized crime in the city.

Photo: La Presse