Posted at 5:00 a.m.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Sarah cannot hold back her emotions when talking about her precarious situation in the Milton-Parc sector. Tears fill her eyes when she talks about her daughter, who also lives on the streets, and whom she hasn’t heard from for days. Originally from Kuujjuaq, the 41-year-old Inuit has been in a wheelchair since a car accident in 2005.
INFOGRAPHIC THE PRESS
Intersection of Milton Street and Parc Avenue in Montreal
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Annisee and Clarence check in on Whiskey. The native is a major burn victim, originally from the North Shore. Whiskey lives in a neighborhood residence and frequents the local homeless community.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
A permanent fence permanently closes access to this abandoned land, which until recently was the main gathering place for homeless people in the area. The vocation of this piece of asphalt is controversial. Activists want to see the space turned into a community space, while a group of exasperated citizens want it fenced off. The owner of the land decided last June, which raises the discontent of the homeless.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Down with the fence! A group of activists would like to see the abandoned land converted into community space.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
It was here that in the winter of 2021, Raphaël André, 51, was found frozen to death in a chemical toilet.
The safety of homeless people is a concern due to the proximity of the high-speed automobile traffic lanes on Park Avenue. According to the SPVM’s analysis, four accidents involving a pedestrian, including one fatal and one seriously injured, took place in 2020 on Parc Avenue near Milton Street. In 2021, we are talking about two accidents. Only events involving the target community were noted. It is therefore possible that more accidents of a lesser severity not reported to the SPVM have occurred.
Excerpt from the ombudsman’s report Don’t look away
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
The safety of homeless people begging on Parc Avenue is a concern. For the past two years, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has reported six accidents involving a pedestrian in the traveling community, including one fatal in 2020.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Annisee Papialuk is a well-known figure in Inuit homelessness in the Milton-Parc sector.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Exasperated by the situation in the Milton-Parc sector, a group of citizens led by Martine Michaud and Maryse Guillemette is at the origin of the process of the report of the ombudsman of Montreal.
Their complaint describes the situation as a crisis, due to the intensity of the problems of security, sanitation and violence. They bear witness to physical and sexual assault, prostitution, drug use and the exploitation of homeless people by drug dealers and pimps who set up shop in the neighborhood.
Excerpt from the ombudsman’s report Don’t look away
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Police intervention on Park Avenue with a drunken man
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
An Aboriginal homeless man is treated by paramedics after he lost consciousness on the sidewalk.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
A drug dealer on Milton Street counts the proceeds of his illicit trade.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
For the year 2021, the SPVM received an average of three calls per day involving homeless customers.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Kody (left) is a street worker with indigenous homeless people. He checks in on Pasha, Lizzie, Elisapi and Bobby, who frequent the Milton-Parc area. Every day, he makes the rounds of the homeless for the organization Plein Milieu.
It is important to move from words to deeds. It is fundamental not to manage this situation by simple checkboxes in a plan. We must act with premeditation and ensure that the planned measures produce concrete results, that entities in all directions are accountable for the responsibilities incumbent on them and that this accountability is not measured by isolated tasks, but rather by decisive impacts on the ground. Clearly, we must put forward comprehensive and structuring measures.
Excerpt from the conclusion of the ombudsman’s report Don’t look away
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Alcohol and drug use is rampant in the area.
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
A homeless Inuit sleeps on the sidewalk of Park Avenue.