The opposition in Montreal demands that the City reserve a housing bank, in view of next July 1, in order to limit the number of families who will find themselves on the street.
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The Ensemble Montréal party will table a motion to this effect at the next city council.
Concretely, the party would like the City to finance community organizations, which would rent housing. These would then be given to families in need. If the accommodations do not find takers, the costs would be covered by the City.
“The financial risk rests on the shoulders of the City of Montreal, but it is a minimal risk knowing that the needs are enormous in Montreal,” indicated Benoît Langevin, spokesperson for the official opposition in the fight against poverty and homelessness. He asks that the sum of $1 million be set aside for this purpose.
According to data presented by Ensemble Montréal, 16 households are still staying at the hotel, at the City’s expense, having been unable to find accommodation that meets their needs since July 1.
“Not only does this have a cost on the human dignity of these people, but also on the City of Montreal. The sums to be disbursed are more and more important for temporary accommodation and other emergency measures,” added Mr. Langevin.
The latter was accompanied by Sam Watts, CEO of the Mission Bon accueil who believes that this is a good idea to offer a solution to the problem.
“It’s not partisan. Nobody is safe from finding themselves in this situation when 63% of people are tenants in Montreal. All it takes is one or two misfortunes and you’re homeless,” he said.