The police must now come to the rescue of organizations distributing food baskets, because hundreds of hungry people are lining up to snatch up the insufficiently available food.
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“People physically attacked us, several times we needed help from the police or security to control us. It shows the extent to which there is food insecurity,” says Rose Ngo Ndjel, general director of the Africa au feminine organization.
Like her, Nancy Dion, coordinator of the Cuisine et vie collectives Saint-Roch organization, notes that more and more people are ready to do anything to obtain food.
Nancy Dion and Gloria Fernandez, from the organization Cuisine et vie collectives Saint-Roch, in Montreal, had to call the police on Monday to restore order after scuffles to obtain a basket of food
Photo Agence QMI, Joël Lemay
“They are hungry people, very poor and they want to ask us for food,” says Nancy Dion, coordinator of the Saint-Roch Collective Cuisine and Life organization, which has been working for 30 years.
In the neighborhood, the two organizations are facing a huge increase in demand.
Facebook Saint-Roch collective kitchen and life
- Listen to the interview with Rose Ngo Ndjel, general director of the Africa au feminine organization with Mario Dumont on QUB:
From 90 to 500 baskets
Before the pandemic, Afrique au feminine prepared around 80 to 90 baskets of food per week. Today, that has increased to 450 to 500 baskets every Tuesday.
“Three weeks ago, we still had around a hundred people lining up in front of the arena. We couldn’t give to everyone,” laments the general director, who says she pays $4,000 per month to add fruits and vegetables to beneficiaries’ baskets.
The situation at Cuisine et vie collectives Saint-Roch was similar on Monday when nearly 500 people, 300 of whom were not members of the organization, showed up at the basket distribution room on Monday. Most were non-speaking people, who do not have work permits and who often do not have decent housing.
Facebook Saint-Roch collective kitchen and life
The jostling and the number of people were such that Mme Dion had no choice but to seek help from the police to prevent the “chaos” from getting worse, she explains.
“These are people who need food to survive, often for the first six months upon their arrival in Canada. They are in a precarious situation and represent around 80% of the population of Parc-Extension,” adds M.me Dion, who recalls that Parc-Extension is the poorest neighborhood in Canada.
Lack of resources
But if demand increases while the population increases in the neighborhood, funding does not follow, deplore Rose Ngo Ndjel and Nancy Dion.
“We are making all the efforts we can, but we are limited. We could do so much more if the budget allowed us to because the demand is there,” says M.me Dion.
In addition to the lack of funding, the problem also lies in the fact that asylum seekers must wait 21 months before obtaining a work permit in Canada.
“These people cannot work for two years, but they have a family to feed,” she denounces.
The event caught the eye of politicians who contacted the organization.
“We want the aid to be more stable and not only when it is urgent. We have great help, but it needs to be more,” asks Mme Dion.