Francois Legault refuses to get involved in saving the Maison de Sophia, a shelter for women in difficulty in St-Jérome which is about to close its doors. The Prime Minister invokes the organization’s “accountability problems” to justify its defunding by the CISSS des Laurentides.
Asked about the help he intended to bring to the women of the House of Sophia, who launched a cry from the heart in an article published Monday in The duty, Prime Minister François Legault indicated that he had had discussions on this subject with his Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant. “What I understand, first of all, is that we are going to offer all the places that are necessary for women”, he replied, on the sidelines of an Easter chocolate distribution operation in a primary school in Hochelaga.
He quickly blamed the House of Sophia handlers. “There is a problem with that organization,” he said. I don’t want to go any further, but there is an accountability problem, so it’s really a problem with the organization. »
The Prime Minister reiterated that his colleague “makes sure that all the places are available” for the nine women who are currently staying at the Maison de Sophia. “Obviously, it could be with other organizations, but obviously, there has to be good management in each organization,” he added, without specifying where the women will be relocated if the House of Sophia were to close its doors.
“Totally unfair”
The volunteer president of the board of directors of the Maison de Sophia, Alexandra Soumain, protests against this response from the Prime Minister. “I find it really indecent [de ramener cet argument] to vindicate that we are not given funding, ”she says on the phone.
Yes, the organization has had accountability issues in the recent past, admits Ms. Soumain. These issues, which date back to the days of the previous administration, were raised openly with The duty last week.
It should be noted that Alexandra Soumain took over the reins of the board of directors of the Maison de Sophia barely a year ago. At that time, the former administration, which was “aging and exhausted by the lack of funding” according to Ms. Soumain, wanted to put the key in the door. Alexandra Soumain refused. The old team therefore resigned en bloc and she found herself president of the board of directors. Since then, she has surrounded herself with a new team.
“It is true that there are figures that we did not have until 2021, reiterates Ms. Soumain. But when we arrived, in May 2021, we asked the CISSS specifically: please be indulgent, we won’t have any breaks in service, we, the volunteers, are going to work very hard to put everything back together. . And for a year, we’ve been doing everything we’re asked to do. »
She finds it “unacceptable” and “completely unfair” that her organization is still being blamed for this and that, for this reason, women are deprived of much needed respite.
This explanation is all the more difficult for Ms. Soumain to accept as never, in the official letter that the CISSS sent them to inform them of the end of the subsidies, there is no mention of management or accountability problems. Instead, it was said that there was not enough money to fund all of the homelessness projects presented under the Reaching Home program. This is also the response that the CISSS provided to the To have tonamely that it had been necessary to make “heartbreaking choices” for lack of budget.
Faced with the Prime Minister’s response on Monday, Alexandra Soumain indicated her intention to write him a letter to explain the situation to him: “We will name what is not working and put him in front of his responsibilities, because it is unacceptable”, she announces.
At the time of writing these lines on Monday, the CISSS was unable to answer new questions from the To have to on this subject. The Minister for Health and Social Services, Lionel Carmant, and the Minister for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest, declined our interview requests.
With Marco Fortier