Despite the homelessness crisis plaguing the metropolis, the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante has refused the opposition’s request to double the funding dedicated to helping homeless people in its next budget.
The Ensemble Montréal party proposed, Tuesday in municipal council, to increase from 6 to 12 million the financial assistance paid to community organizations that manage shelters for the homeless and deploy street workers.
Opposition municipal councilor Benoît Langevin recalled that the last count, carried out in 2022, showed 10,000 homeless people in Quebec, half of them in Montreal.
“We have a real issue in Montreal, with an increase of 33% since the previous count,” he underlined. We were already seeing that there were a greater number of people on the streets since the pandemic. So, things must change, we must increase our contribution at the municipal level. »
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Benoît Langevin, opposition municipal councilor
Following consultations with numerous community organizations dedicated to the fight against homelessness, Mr. Langevin requested better support for their mission, in particular to find premises to install shelters open 24 hours, primarily for the women.
“Many women flee mixed shelters because they are afraid of being victims of violence,” notes Benoît Langevin.
It also calls for shelters dedicated exclusively to the LGBTQIA2S+ community as well as the Indigenous and Inuit communities.
The installation of these shelters must be planned to ensure good cohabitation with the entire population, in order to avoid the difficult situations experienced in the Village, Milton-Parc and Chinatown, he said. to be worth.
“Tents everywhere”
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Craig Sauvé, independent advisor
“The administration repeats that it does not want to leave anyone behind, but it is a failure that we see when we go outside and see the situation of homeless people. The progress of the file is not up to the needs,” he lamented, adding that additional investments in prevention would allow the City to avoid expenses on municipal services, police services and others.
Independent advisor Craig Sauvé also made a strong plea for an increase in aid to combat homelessness.
“There are tents all over town. We cannot just continue to remove the camps and place these people in even more difficult situations, he argued. The crisis will worsen, the local population no longer knows what to do, people are afraid. I believe we have reached a tipping point in Montreal, we are losing control. »
The person responsible for the homelessness file on the executive committee, Josefina Blanco, recognized that the crisis was growing, but she assured that the City was playing its role to tackle it and that investments were sufficient, after the administration increased its budget dedicated to this issue from 3 to 6 million last year.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Josefina Blanco, responsible for the homelessness file on the executive committee
“We must not forget that health and social services are the responsibilities of Quebec and that the City only has a supporting role,” said Mr.me Blanco, recalling that the mayors of large cities had recently urged François Legault’s government to act to get people off the streets.
Last month, Mayor Valérie Plante described the investments of 15.5 million announced by Minister Lionel Carmant for the fight against homelessness as “largely insufficient”.
Tuesday, Mme Blanco said he expected that new local measures would soon be announced by the CIUSSS of the metropolis, following the minister’s announcement.