Around 100 people took part in a ceremony on Monday afternoon in honor of Elisapie Pootoogook, the 61-year-old itinerant Inuit woman found dead on November 13 at a downtown construction site, where luxury condominium towers are being erected. .
“Isn’t it ironic to see buildings, four condo towers, built where there was a children’s hospital, and to know that a person froze to death there?” This is unacceptable ! », Underlined the secretary of the board of directors of the company Makivik, Rita Novalinga, addressing the crowd gathered in Cabot square, where Mr.me Pootoogook used to spend his days.
Ghislain Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, who also spoke, underlined the absence of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, who had been invited to the event.
He recalled that the death of Mme Pootoogook comes after Raphaël André’s, last January. Mr. André, an Innu itinerant, froze to death in a chemical toilet at the corner of rue Milton and avenue du Parc.
“We must not wait for another tragedy to remind us, we must act today,” he said.
Organizations that work with the homeless have long requested funding for a permanent shelter in the area, which could include homeless people even if they are under the influence of alcohol, recalled David Chapman of the Resilience organism.
Monday, in Cabot Square, those who rubbed shoulders with Elisapie Pootoogook in the street gathered in front of her photo surrounded by a wreath of flowers. Several followed one another at the microphone, in tears, to underline how much they would miss her.
There were chants and the sound of drums. Inuit singer Elisapie Isaac recorded a song in honor of the deceased, which was broadcast there.
Then, the audience formed a procession to get to where the body of Mr.me Pootoogook was found a street corner away.
Bouquets of flowers have been placed along the fence surrounding the construction site of the building at 1111 Atwater, whose slogan is “the exclusivity of life at the top”.