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‘Humanitarian crisis’: Plante accuses Legault of turning a blind eye to homelessness in Montreal

by Timothy Edward, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

“Montrealers are calling on the Quebec government to implement a real national plan, including mental health care, addiction support and proper housing.”

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante held a press conference this week to discuss the “humanitarian crisis” unfolding in the city due to homelessness, and accused Quebec Premier François Legault of turning a blind eye to the issue.

“I saw François Legault arrive with his boots when there were floods in Baie-Saint-Paul, when there were forest fires, to reassure people. He’s supposed to be a good family man. How come we haven’t seen him, or anyone from his team, at the camp on Notre-Dame Street, or in the overflowing shelters in the Village, where residents are increasingly complaining about insecurity? Or in the Ville-Marie borough councils, when citizens come to say they’re at their wit’s end finding syringes in their alleys?”

Plante said that the city has been left to do the job of the province, and that Montrealers are being taxed twice to deal with this issue — once by Quebec for the services the province is supposed to provide and a second time by Montreal for having to pay for those services.

Plante has been asking for urgent intervention from the province to assist with temporary shelters for the homeless since winter temperatures arrived in December. The city went ahead and established several emergency warming centres, saying they would simply bill the province. So far, one of these warming centres alone — in a building next door to City Hall — has cost the city $700,000.

The mayor is now suggestion a provincial plan to deal with homelessness that includes mental health and addiction support, as well as housing solutions.

Quebec’s Minister of Social Services, Lionel Carmant, said in a written statement that he was surprised by Plante’s statement and accusations. “Can we stop looking for someone to blame?” he wrote. “If the problem was just money, we would have solved this crisis a long time ago.”

‘Humanitarian crisis’: Plante accuses Legault of turning a blind eye to homelessness in Montreal

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