The victims of Bon-Pasteur will not be pushed out of the place where they have been relocated, the City of Montreal promised on Monday, in the face of the great concern of some of them.
Two seniors who lost their room in the Residence Aurélie-Cadotte in the fire of the historic complex, at the end of May, presented themselves to the municipal council to denounce their imminent expulsion from the hotel residence where they were installed by the public authorities.
“I have just been told that tomorrow morning I have to leave the premises,” lamented Bernard-Hugues Beauchesne. “I come to ask you for help. Roger Ferber, another resident, was “also told a few days ago that he had to leave this Wednesday,” said his caregiver, who did not identify himself. “There was a lot of anxiety, people who didn’t sleep. Some are on the eve of their 90s. »
Both men have private insurance.
The mayoress of Montreal and her head of housing, Benoit Dorais, reacted with surprise to the intervention of MM. Beauchesne and Ferber in front of the municipal council. They promised to find out quickly.
In the middle of the evening, Mr. Dorais explained to The Press that the Office municipal d’habitation de Montréal (OMHM) had effectively informed the insured residents that they should now turn to their insurers, but indicated that no one would be evicted from the hotel residence.
“Quickly, the general manager [de l’OMHM] has agreed with us that the deadline [donné par préavis], for the elderly, was short, ”reported Benoit Dorais, who had just spoken to him. “If there are people who have not been able to make an agreement with their insurance for Wednesday, [l’OMHM] don’t kick anyone out. »
During a disaster like that of the Good Shepherd, the rules provide that the Red Cross accommodates the victims who need it for two days, then that this responsibility falls on the local housing office, indicated the elected official. . The insured victims must however quickly find another solution, but “there is no one who will be kicked out”.