Lionel Carmant did not provide me with any figures when I spoke to him about homelessness earlier this week, but he suggested to me that the picture would be ugly.
He didn’t lie: it’s very, very ugly.
Hideous, even.
The milestone of 10,000 homeless people was crossed in Quebec, we learned on Wednesday, after a government report was leaked to several media. And this round figure is undoubtedly only the tip of the iceberg, since we are talking here about people experiencing “visible” homelessness.
This is 44% more than in the last homeless count in 2018.
A catastrophic increase, nothing less.
It is with these figures as a backdrop that Lionel Carmant, the minister responsible for Social Services, will attend the major summit of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ) on homelessness this Friday.
To say that he is eagerly awaited is an understatement.
The mayors of all of Quebec’s largest cities will be present at the Le Concorde hotel, a stone’s throw from the Plains of Abraham, where the meeting is being held.
Hundreds of representatives from the community world will also be there, to hear the minister – and, above all, for him to hear them.
The mayor of Gatineau, in Outaouais, a region where we have seen the most dramatic increase in homelessness (+268%), even chartered a bus to allow several community organizations from Outaouais to travel to Quebec!
It will be tough all round.
It must be said that the last week was spicy between Mr. Carmant and the mayors of Quebec.
He asked them to “lower the tone” on the issue of homelessness last Thursday, after being criticized by the mayor of Gatineau, France Bélisle, who told the story of a young homeless person forced to give birth in a wooded area.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Gatineau Mayor France Bélisle at the Municipal Taxation Summit in Montreal last week
The minister returned to this spat which went down badly in public opinion.
“That she [France Bélisle] defend citizens, for me, that’s honorable, I have no problem with that, he told me in an interview on Tuesday. What surprised me a little, what took me by surprise, was the moment of the intervention. »
The differences have since been resolved, the minister and the mayor’s office confirmed to me.
But the list of demands from cities remains just as long in the fight against homelessness. They are calling for reinvestment in shelters and psychosocial services across the province.
The minister told me he wanted to be “realistic”. There is no question of aiming for a “zero homelessness” objective for the moment, as demanded for example by the mayor of Quebec, inspired by Finland.
Lionel Carmant’s objective is more pragmatic: “to reverse the trend”. Stop the meteoric rise of the last four years. It will have a lot of margin between “10,000” and “zero”.
This reversal desired by Mr. Carmant will involve better access to housing for street people. And increased support to keep disadvantaged people in their homes, to prevent them from ending up on the street.
Gigantic order, in light of the current housing shortage.
Fortunately, the Legault government seems to have understood the message, after having denied for a long time the existence of a housing crisis.
Finance Minister Eric Girard committed last week to investing more in affordable housing in his update which will be presented later this fall. Good news.
I have spent a lot of time in the field in recent days, visiting shelters and meeting with people who work with the homeless. I saw a lot of tears and crack use – I will tell you this heartbreaking story soon.
An observation that emerged during my meetings, and which seems to be one of the main irritating factors, is the lack of coordination between all ministries, public authorities such as the CIUSSS and CISSS, and community organizations, on the ground. .
The situation is often cacophonous, and certainly counterproductive.
“Everyone is responsible to some extent, but there is no one who [a des comptes à rendre] “, summed up Sam Watts, the CEO of Mission Bon Accueil.
Lionel Carmant is fully aware of this, and I must say that this reassured me a little.
The minister plans to create coordinator positions in each region, who would oversee all bodies directly or indirectly related to homelessness.
Like a conductor who comes to guide musicians with completely out of tune instruments.
Let him take action, without delay.