Montreal recently refused to change burnt out light bulbs in one of its buildings, citing the budgetary restrictions it imposed on itself to complete its 2023 financial year, we have learned The Press.
“Due to budgetary restrictions, we were forced to cancel your non-urgent request. Please make a request again in 2024,” the buildings department wrote to the heads of the community group L’Atelier, a mental health resource focused on crafts, after a trivial request to change light bulbs.
People with depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia who attend the community group, whose facilities are partially dark, must also wash their hands with cold water when leaving the toilet. The water heater broke at the end of October and the City did not replace it.
“I find that a little disrespectful,” argued Céline Perraud, general director of L’Atelier. His group pays $11,000 per month in rent at the Strathearn Center, rue Jeanne-Mance, a municipal building.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Céline Perraud, general director of L’Atelier
Obviously, the City of Montreal places the fancy needs of a handful of employees well above basic needs.
Céline Perraud, general director of L’Atelier
It was the expenses scandal at the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) that pushed Mme Perraud to contact The Press.
“This story makes no sense,” says the opposition
Our contact with the City of Montreal quickly made things happen. “Regarding the replacement of burnt bulbs, the situation should be regularized shortly,” said public relations officer Sara-Eve Tremblay early in the evening.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
The general director of L’Atelier, Céline Perraud, showing the broken water heater in the organization’s premises
“For the replacement of the water heater, the request is not canceled and it was sent to an external supplier on November 6,” she added. We are awaiting availability and the work will be carried out in the coming days. » According to Mme Perraud, a representative of the City, nevertheless refused his request verbally, citing budgetary restrictions. She would have contacted him again, indicating that her kitchen was also deprived of hot water and would not have heard from him again.
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Aref Salem, leader of the opposition at Montreal city hall
“This story simply makes no sense,” lamented city hall opposition leader Aref Salem in a written statement. “The City wants to put in place a regulation for the certification of responsible owners [alors] that Montreal does not even respect good practices when it is an owner. Invoking a budget crunch for not changing a water heater and light bulbs in exterior corridors is unacceptable for a city with an operating budget of $7 billion. »
An illuminated garland to illuminate
The Workshop itself takes care of the maintenance of its vast premises, frequented daily by dozens of people living with mental health problems. It is rather the lighting of the common spaces on the floor (corridor, changing room, kitchenette and toilet) which is at stake. When passing The Pressa good dozen bulbs and neon lights were out of service.
The main corridor remains well lit thanks to an illuminated garland installed by the organization. “Without the garland, we would be almost 100% in the dark now,” M saidme Perraud. “The garland was there before the neon lights burned, but it has become more important than ever for some time now. » The locker room used by the organization is plunged into darkness: only one lighting device in six still works. A secondary corridor is in the same situation.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
The main corridor of L’Atelier remains well lit thanks to an illuminated garland installed by the community group.
As for the water heater belonging to the City, which is 18 years old, it was water damage that occurred on Halloween that meant the end of its life. This is a small residential sized device. The request to have it changed yielded nothing.
“The City tells us that there is no money for that,” lamented M.me Perraud.
I was told it to my face, in person: it’s just for washing your hands. So it’s okay to go three months in winter without hot water?
Céline Perraud, general director of L’Atelier
In the tap right next to it, the one that controls the hot water only allows a thin stream of… cold water to flow.
Slimming cure of 115 million
Even though the Plante administration presented a budget of 7 billion for next year on Wednesday, its budgetary restriction plan is still in effect until the end of the year.
Objective: save 115 million in order to be able to complete the year. Since the plan was announced in mid-October, City of Montreal managers no longer have the right to fill non-essential vacant positions and have lost control of part of the funds that were allocated to their department without being formally committed.
However, expenses incurred before this slimming treatment made the headlines. The mayor and her team notably granted a double bonus to the City’s 1,800 executives to compensate for bonuses never paid in 2020. And a collective agreement providing for “an increase in the overall remuneration of the police force by 20% over 5 years” was signed last spring. These increases are almost twice as large as those planned at the start of negotiations.