(Ottawa) The proliferation of homeless encampments across the country is a “generational moral failure,” says Housing Minister Sean Fraser. He intends to present a plan to combat this phenomenon before August 31, as requested by the housing advocate in her most recent report.
“I won’t be able to honestly say that I have properly resolved the housing crisis if we still have to encounter people sleeping on the streets in Canada,” he said in a press scrum before the Cabinet meeting. Tuesday.
“We have to ask ourselves, not only as a government, but also as a society, and that includes other levels of government as well: What kind of country do we want to live in? Do we think it is acceptable that people are not able to reach their full potential because they cannot find housing? »
He hopes to be able to present a series of measures to combat homelessness before August 31 which will be part of a “more comprehensive plan to tackle the housing crisis”, including transitional accommodation and affordable apartments. affordable.
In her most recent report, the housing advocate calls for a national intervention plan by the end of August to resolve the situation of encampments which have multiplied across the country. Marie-Josée Houle calls it “a question of life and death” since people who live outside can be swept away by the cold or by a drug overdose or be beaten to death.
She believes that the federal government and the provinces can no longer leave municipalities to deal with the problem of homelessness alone.
“It’s really a crisis and it’s urgent,” she said in an interview with The Pressthe day before.
“We still have work to do to identify appropriate policies,” explained Minister Fraser.
He argued that the challenges in a city like Halifax are not the same as in Toronto or Vancouver and therefore time must be taken to find solutions that meet local needs.
Homelessness exists in all regions, recalled the Union of Municipalities of Quebec. She expects the federal and Quebec governments “to be fully committed” to meeting housing needs for vulnerable people.
“There is an urgent need to act, municipalities are too often left to their own devices and cannot manage this unprecedented crisis alone,” declared its president Martin Damphousse. The solutions are complex and require coordinated action. »
At the office of the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, we recall that the Quebec government is in the process of deploying its Interministerial Action Plan on Homelessness, in place since 2021. His press secretary, Lambert Drainville, indicated that the latest economic update provided for 500 housing units which will be intended for them.
However, several thousand would be needed, according to the general director of Accueil Bonneau, Fiona Crossling.
“In the longer term, the creation of transitional accommodation and supervised accommodation places will make it possible to bring vulnerable people back into housing and, at the same time, free up places in shelters,” said the press officer. giving as an example a new accommodation center set up in the former Chicoutimi prison unveiled the day before by several ministers of the Legault government, including Lionel Carmant.
With Isabelle Ducas, The Press