Homeless man died during frosty night | “A signal that we really need to do more”

What the homeless community feared happened: a 74-year-old man who lived in a camp lost his life Monday night, in the midst of a cold snap in Montreal.

Alice Girard-Bossé
Press

The drop in mercury would have got the better of the man, who was found hypothermic and lifeless around 6 p.m. Monday evening.

The eldest had been living for several years in a camp located in a wood, between rue Saint-Jacques and highway 20 West, in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce sector.

“I was very, very sad to see that someone had died in such cold weather,” said Chantal Laferrière, general manager of Mission St-Michael’s.

She maintains that there are many camps in the area.

Upon the arrival of the police, the septuagenarian was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. As there is no indication that this was a criminal incident, the inquest was referred to the coroner.

“I am upset, like the rest of the Montreal population. I want to tell you that it is an important demonstration to live in a makeshift shelter, it is not the solution ”, commented the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, qualifying the drama of“ tragic death. “.

The man was known to community organizations in the area and probably refused to go to accommodation resources.

“A nurse from the CIUSSS du Center-Sud went to see him and the SPVM police officers went to visit him often,” said the mayor.

Keep contact

Just like the septuagenarian, other people in a situation of homelessness refuse to go to accommodation resources, preferring to spend the night outside, even in very cold weather.

At 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, agent Laurent Dyke and the social prevention team of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) began their tour of the camps in the southwest of the metropolis.

“Today, in a period of extreme cold, we made sure to go see the people who remain on the street, we went to bring coffee,” he said.

Coffee may seem trivial, but for SPVM officers, it’s a great way to get in touch with homeless people. “Coffee is a good link to be able to talk to people. We try to keep in regular contact, to assess their state of health, ”he said.

The members of the team ensure to direct or accompany these people to the appropriate services according to their needs.

Since Tuesday, the STM has opened four subway entrances to allow people to go to warm up, says Mr. Dyke. Many shelters have also ignored sanitary measures to accommodate people in need.

“Often they don’t want to leave the camps. They are adults and vaccinated. We don’t want to take them somewhere against their will. It’s complex, ”says the director general of Mission St-Michael’s.

Last week, she offered food, socks, toques, mittens, scarves and food to the team of SPVM police officers so that they could distribute them in the camps.

A “signal” to do more

On Twitter, the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, said Tuesday that “the death of this man is a tragic event”. “I have a thought today for relatives and friends, it is something that touches me greatly. ”

“The great cold that we are experiencing this week are extreme,” he wrote, recalling that Public Health had authorized Monday that the dormitories of shelters be used to their maximum capacity.

The tragedy occurred as the polar cold continues to worry organizations supporting homeless people. “This is again a situation that should have been avoided. All the groups that provide accommodation have long denounced the lack of places and plans to cope with situations, ”illustrates the director of the Assistance Network for Single and Homeless People of Montreal (RAPSIM), Annie Savage.

“It takes strong structural measures from us. In other words, a major infrastructure development plan to allow the deployment of 24/7 resources adapted to needs, which are large and very varied ”, says Mr.^me Savage.

Same story with the CEO of the Welcome Hall Mission, Sam Watts, according to whom this new death should be “a signal to the aid ecosystem that we really need to do more”.

For her part, the new person in charge of homelessness at the executive committee of the City of Montreal, Josefina Blanco, affirms that the death of the septuagenarian is “overwhelming”, and that it illustrates that access to social housing is “essential” to save lives now.

This death is reminiscent of that of Raphael André, found frozen dead, in January 2021, in a chemical toilet, close to a closed refuge that he used to frequent.

Last November, Elisapie Pootoogook, a 61-year-old homeless woman, was also found dead in a construction site on the site of the former Montreal Children’s Hospital downtown.

The soccer stadium opens its doors

The City of Montreal announced Tuesday that it will welcome as of Thursday 300 homeless people infected by COVID-19 in the Montreal soccer stadium, located in the borough of Villeray – Saint-Michel – Parc-Extension.

“These 300 places will allow us to relieve the pressure in the shelters. The people [en situation d’itinérance] infected by Omicron will be able to go into isolation at the soccer center and therefore free up places, ”Mayor Valérie Plante announced at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The Montreal Soccer Stadium will be reserved for infected people. “Currently, [les personnes infectées] end up in shelters because it’s cold, or they end up on the street, ”says the mayor.

Since December 29, homeless people infected with COVID-19 have been welcomed at the Chrome hotel, boulevard René-Lévesque, in the heart of downtown Montreal. It can accommodate up to 111 people.

From Thursday, those infected will now be housed at the Soccer Stadium, while the Chrome Hotel will accommodate people who do not have the virus.