It was an early morning like any other at CPE La Petite Colonie, located next to a homeless shelter in downtown Montreal. As usual, on February 2, the educator went to take a look outside to make sure everything was safe before the children arrived. It was while carrying out this morning routine that she discovered a corpse. There, in the CPE courtyard.
What there is to know
- A man was found dead in the courtyard of a daycare center on February 2, in downtown Montreal.
- As the CPE is neighboring the St-Michael Mission, a shelter for the homeless, this rekindles the debate on the difficult cohabitation between these organizations and their neighbors.
- Changes in drug consumption complicate this cohabitation and the care of people on the street, also notes the Old Brewery Mission.
This is the story told by a mother whose child attends the CPE and who requested anonymity because the issue is delicate.
For the moment, the police do not confirm that the man found dead was a user of Mission St-Michael. The Old Brewery Mission, which is linked to this shelter (it offers its mobile clinic services occasionally for housing assistance, among other things), indicates to The Press that a priori, this man was not known to the two organizations.
In any case, this drama has heightened the already very present concerns about the forced cohabitation between the CPE and the St-Michael Mission, reported in a CTV report last week.
On its website, the St-Michael Mission (which moved next to the CPE a year ago) specifies that its clientele “is made up of men and women experiencing food insecurity, homelessness, isolation, mental illness, addiction and poverty.”
The CPE and the shelter both rent premises in St. George Church on Stanley Street, explains the mother interviewed.
The church rents the basement from the Mission. The CPE has been located in the part of the old presbytery for more than 20 years. I don’t understand how the City of Montreal could have granted a permit to a shelter in this location. Children are nearby and there are two other CPE nearby.
Mother of a child attending the CPE La Petite Colonie
The mother interviewed indicates that she and her son are afraid when they arrive and leave the CPE.
A man rushing a bus into a daycare in Sainte-Rose, as happened last year, is highly improbable, she argues. But that a child could be injured in an altercation with a user who behaves erratically because of the drugs he or she uses, “that is very predictable.”
Coroner’s inquest
Véronique Dubuc, media relations manager at the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), confirms that the man was indeed discovered in the courtyard of the CPE (and not on the sidewalk, as the first report indicated press) and that “there was the presence of blood”. This tragedy is now in the hands of the Coroner’s Office because according to the SPVM’s initial findings, “it does not seem criminal.”
If necessary, after the autopsy, the SPVM will reactivate its investigation.
Simon Charron, press secretary for Mayor Valérie Plante, indicates that city officials spoke Thursday with the CPE and with the church, which rents the premises. “We agreed to organize a meeting next week […] in order to assess the situation and find possible solutions. »
There are significant issues of homelessness in this sector and the St-Michael Mission does essential work to help people get out of it.
Simon Charron, press secretary to Mayor Valérie Plante
Calls from The Press at the CPE La Petite Colonie remained unanswered on Friday. The position of general director is vacant, as indicated by a job posting on the website of the Association québécoise des centers de la petite jeunesse.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The facade of the CPE La Petite Colonie, in Montreal
At the St-Michael shelter, a community liaison officer who described himself as the representative of the organization, but who did not want to give his name, indicated that he would not comment on the situation. “We prefer to work in collaboration with the CPE to manage cohabitation. »
A very legitimate feeling of insecurity
Questioned about this tragedy, Émilie Fortier, vice-president of services at the Old Brewery Mission (located diagonally from the Montreal courthouse), begins by saying that the feeling of insecurity expressed by parents is very legitimate and that she understands it perfectly.
She and her organization know the St-Michael shelter very well, which, she says, “does a lot with few resources.” Mme Fortier also points out that shelters have also had to deal with “an increase in disturbing behavior” in recent years, as addiction problems have changed.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, THE PRESS
The vice-president of services at the Old Brewery Mission, Émilie Fortier
Someone who takes heroin is at risk of dying from an overdose, but usually they are calm. But for some time now, we have been seeing more and more stimulants, such as crack or cocaine. With stimulants, the person overdosing looks more psychotic… even though they are not. It makes a big difference in the interventions we have to make.
Émilie Fortier, vice-president of services at the Old Brewery Mission
In recent years, large shelters have begun to adapt to these new realities and the increase in people in distress. For example, indicates Mme Fortier, they now operate mostly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so users do not have to leave the shelters in the morning and there is therefore less wandering in the surrounding area.
This has improved things a lot, according to her, as has the increase in street workers present around the shelters. The City, she adds, is also aware that around these places, more frequent cleaning must be done by its employees.
But the fact remains that no matter where the shelters are located, “zero impact is impossible”.
A CPE right next door, isn’t that still contraindicated? “At the Old Brewery Mission, we are fortunate to be in an enclave, with no neighbors other than the Ville-Marie highway, the courthouse, The Press, etc. Elsewhere, if there are no CPE around the shelters, there may very well be families who live nearby. »
“It is increasingly difficult for our type of services to find premises,” observes M.me Fortier, adding that people on the streets need places to go.
She says this while also emphasizing the extent to which shelters are far from being the only major points of contact now.
At the entrance to Old Montreal, near the Old Brewery Mission – as elsewhere in the city – a large encampment of people has been set up on the street. Never seen before, note Mme Fortier, who nonetheless remains optimistic. “I think that within a year, with this desire to do things better that I feel from all sides, things will change. »