A homeless shelter project in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, scheduled to open on March 1er August, has a hitch: the City of Montreal has still not taken possession of the coveted building while an opposition movement is being organized in the neighborhood.
The story so far
October 2023
Les Jardins Gordon, a building purchased by the City of Montreal in Verdun, is becoming an emergency shelter for the homeless, following the closure of the Complexe Guy-Favreau shelter.
June 16, 2024
The municipal council authorizes the purchase of the Bois-de-Boulogne Center to install a 50-place shelter there.
July 3, 2024
Many citizens expressed their opposition to the opening of this centre in their area during a virtual information meeting organized by the City of Montreal.
July 22, 2024
The Social Development Corporation is temporarily laying off 30 employees due to the closure of the Verdun shelter on July 31, and the lack of an agreement to open a new shelter.
Meanwhile, a 50-bed shelter set up in the Jardins Gordon building in Verdun will close its doors on July 31, while a new roof has still not been found for approximately 25 of its residents.
The Social Development Corporation (SDS), which manages the Gordon Gardens, temporarily laid off 30 employees on Monday due to the closure.
“There is sand in the gears and everything is on ice,” confides Martin Raymond, general manager of the SDS, which was also to operate the future shelter in the north of the city.
“We were supposed to move in on the 1ster August, but it will not be possible because the sale to the City has not been finalized.”
“The sale to the City of Montreal will probably not happen,” said the broker in charge of selling the building, Denis Perreault, refusing to say why the discussions are failing.
The Bois-de-Boulogne Center, located on the avenue of the same name, was until very recently a palliative care center of the Gracia Foundation, which put it up for sale last spring for 3.4 million.
On June 17, the City Council approved the purchase of the building. Since the City needed to give itself time to do its “due diligence,” the plan was to enter into a four-month lease with the Gracia Foundation and sublet the building to the SDS so it could set up its 50-bed shelter there as of June 1.er august.
However, this lease has still not been signed, confirms the office of Mayor Valérie Plante, who says she is continuing negotiations with the owner. Our messages to the Gracia Foundation have remained unanswered.
Citizens’ fears
Meanwhile, citizens of this peaceful area are making their opposition to the project known in various ways: petitions, distributing leaflets and a demonstration, planned for Saturday.
PHOTO CHARLES WILLIAM PELLETIER, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Concerned residents, pictured in front of the Bois-de-Boulogne Center, oppose the proposed homeless shelter in their neighborhood.
They are particularly highlighting the proximity of the future shelter to a childcare centre (CPE) right next door, several other daycare centres and schools (three primary and two secondary).
“We’re going to put the babies in the daycare in danger, there will be unsightly scenes and people who will be poisoned,” denounces Ana Somarriba, mother of two children who lives nearby.
Are the rights of 50 homeless people more important than those of 4,000 children? We want to help, but not at the expense of other populations.
Ana Somarriba, resident of Ahuntsic-Cartierville
“It’s going to affect the quality of life in the neighborhood,” adds Laury Furlanetto. “Smoking, alcohol and drugs will be banned in the shelter, so it’s going to happen outside. Will they supervise them outside as well? We’re not ready to be faced with people who are intoxicated or have mental health problems.”
Angry residents say it was all done too quickly and that the city did not analyze the impacts of such a project in the area. “What criteria did they use to decide this was the best place?” asks Maria Donato.
Question of education
For Martin Raymond of the SDS, the citizens’ fears demonstrate above all that there is a lot of education to be done among the population about the services offered in such shelters. “People have in mind the image of homelessness in the city centre, where there is a lot of consumption and mental health problems,” he says. “But at Jardins Gordon, we have succeeded in our integration. There are many things we can do to lessen the impacts.”
The Gordon Gardens are intended to become social housing.
The City of Montreal responded that the “needs and concerns of the population” will be taken into account, but that the homelessness crisis requires that solutions be sought.
“The needs are urgent and multiple for the establishment of new permanent resources throughout Montreal. This is why our team is increasing its efforts alongside the health network and community organizations to find new places to accommodate the most vulnerable in our society,” said the head of homelessness on the executive committee, Robert Beaudry, in a written statement.
The opposition at city hall, for its part, claims that the Plante administration is going about its hopes of emerging from the crisis the wrong way.
“The Plante administration is sowing chaos wherever it decides to open shelters in neighbourhoods where there are several schools and early childhood centres, without taking into consideration the impacts,” said opposition leader Aref Salem in a written response, recalling that the same problem exists in the Rosemont neighbourhood, with the shelter project in the Sainte-Bibiane church.1.
“The homelessness crisis will not be solved with a series of hasty decisions without a real plan.”
1. Read Maxime Bergeron’s column “This refuge that no one wants”