They are called Marc, Louis, Victor or Manuel. All are residents of the Village, in the Ville-Marie borough, in Montreal. And they all share the same concern: that of seeing the quality of life in the neighborhood they cherish visibly deteriorating.
“We are on the verge of moving. The feeling of insecurity contributed a lot to that. “On the phone, Marc François Rouleau is sorry for the deterioration of his environment. The Village, where he has lived for nearly ten years, no longer has the dynamic and sparkling allure of yesteryear, he says.
Like many residents reached by The duty, he has experienced several incidents recently in the area. He doesn’t feel as safe there as he used to. “Sometimes we are afraid to go home. There are people following us,” he says, adding that his boyfriend now does the grocery shopping early in the morning, at a time when fewer people are prowling the streets.
Louis Laurent went to the police station recently, after an attack that occurred on January 30. As he was returning home in broad daylight, a stone’s throw from the Beaudry metro station, he said that a man threw himself on him from behind and tried to snatch the bag he was carrying over his shoulder. “I grabbed his arm, and he kicked me in the side of the head. I didn’t know what was happening at the time, but it hurt like hell,” says Mr. Laurent.
After a visit to the doctor a few days later, the verdict is in: he has a perforated eardrum. “The district has deteriorated a lot in the last five years, regrets Mr. Laurent. Before, it was totally different. It was fun and we felt safe. Now I’m more on my guard. »
A “haven of peace” in decline
Having lived in the neighborhood for nearly five years, Manuel Poitras has also noticed a deterioration in the quality of life, which gives him a strong desire to move. But in approaching the situation, he weighs his words: “I am always afraid that it will degenerate into a lawsuit against the homeless. »
Mr. Poitras nevertheless experienced several frightening situations in contact with obviously intoxicated people. For example, he claims to have called 911 twice in the past six months, having seen lifeless people near his home.
I feel like there is an injustice. There is no other place in Montreal where we would accept
“Last week, I saw a person crushed on the ground, she looked like she was overdosing, he recalls. I saw her through my window. He also recounts having had a narrow escape last summer, when a visibly intoxicated man came towards him, pretending to stick his bloody hand on his body. The man stopped at the last moment.
“I have the impression that there is an injustice, underlines Mr. Poitras. There is no other place in Montreal where we would accept that. For him, the presence of people in distress in the area is not unrelated to the history of the district. “I feel like the Village is seen as a place where ‘we can get it’. […] But there is the side safe space of the Village which is in the process of deteriorating, and it is distressing, because it was built over several years of struggle. »
It’s as if one of the neighborhood’s original missions was now in jeopardy. “It’s a community that was built to build a haven of peace, but it’s really going into decline. Not because there is violence against sexual diversity, but because there is violence in general. »
“The yard is full”
Several other neighborhood residents contacted by The duty told their personal stories. Victor, who does not wish to mention his surname for professional reasons, also finds that the atmosphere in the sector is beginning to weigh on him.
“When you get up in the morning or when you come home from work, seeing all this distress is quite shocking, it is even heavy for morale. As residents, it’s starting to weigh on us, it’s as if we were faced with a burden. »
He also does not point the finger at the homeless or intoxicated people who roam the nerve center of the neighborhood every day. Rather, he believes that the resources to help these people are not sufficient. “Most residents, we’re not in the mood to say, ‘Not in my backyard.’ It is rather that there, the court, it is full! »
He also notes that over the years, it is as if “the center of life in the neighborhood had shifted a little towards Ontario Street”. Leaving the section of rue Sainte-Catherine located between the Berri-UQAM and Beaudry metro stations more gray than ever.
Leave the neighborhood?
For his part, Ted D. does not plan to leave the Village, he who moved there in 2021. “I have not reached a degree of saturation”, he mentions in an interview, despite many events disturbing things he has experienced in recent weeks. However, his observation is clear: “To live in the Village, you gain in dehumanization and aggressiveness what you lose in compassion and joie de vivre. »
It has been a few years since Louis-Alain Robitaille left the neighborhood, after spending 28 years there. The cause ? A wave of homophobic violence that occurred in 2013, following which he founded the organization The Pink Square, which helps victims of such attacks. But the violence in the neighborhood has changed and no longer only affects people from the LGBTQ+ community. “Today is worse than it has ever been,” said Mr. Robitaille. “Now anyone can be assaulted. »
According to him, one solution that would help improve the social climate would be to create the position of borough mayor of Ville-Marie. In fact, this position already exists. Only, it is occupied by… the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante. In fact, since 2009, the position of mayor of Ville-Marie has been de facto occupied by the person elected as mayor of Montreal. “It causes us big problems not to have a mayor. Mme Plante is too busy to take care of us,” continues Mr. Robitaille. “The Village is abandoned by the elected officials. »
“Degradation of the social safety net”
However, Montrealers will be able to comment on the governance of Ville-Marie as part of a public consultation to come by the end of March. Three scenarios will be proposed to citizens, including two where the mayor (or mayoress) of Montreal would no longer be at the head of the borough.
Robert Beaudry, City Councilor representing the Village district, recognizes that the neighborhood must “change” and “prosper”. He believes that the pandemic has dealt a severe blow to the sector and that its repercussions call for even more ambitious solutions.
“The social safety net was gathered in downtown Montreal for years, particularly around the Village, but with the social issues that have been exacerbated during the pandemic, this safety net is under pressure, and people are falling through the stitches […] We have to meet the needs of an increasingly vulnerable clientele. »