Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce

By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

The city needs to end “seasonal optics” and implement a year-long, 24/7 response to growing homelessness in Montreal’s largest borough, says Darlington councillor Stephanie Valenzuela. “We know homelessness has taken a greater space in our city and our province, and unfortunately Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce is not isolated from this,” said Valenzuela Friday in Martin Luther King park.

Despite her interventions, “that of residents, with youth who go to school here, and area businesses,” she says the local administration has not shown any interest to do anything beyond test measures. “There hasn’t been a plan in place since the 2021 election; no additional measures put on the ground either to supplement resources or modified financial resources that we can give to local community organizations that work with homelessness.”

Valenzuela and Snowdon councillor Sonny Moroz want the borough to work rapidly with local stakeholders towards a plan with an appropriate location for a permanent shelter, “and not just when it gets cold,” to present to Quebec for financial resources.

She spoke steps from where a stabbing occurred in broad daylight last Wednesday, also steps from the MultiCaf day centre that served as an overnight shelter last winter. As The Suburban revealed in March, that pilot project operated by Prevention CDN-NDG saw overcapacity, material damages, neighborhood vandalism and incivility, consumption in and around the facility, as well as incidents of violence and the death of a 30-year-old woman two weeks after opening. The cause of death, a suspected overdose, remains undetermined, but facility management expressed reservations about the project shortly after launch.

Operated in a nearby church for three years before moving to MultiCaf, the shelter saw 5,785 visits, averaging 47 nightly users says Valenzuela, despite the 25-person limit. “Once the door closes March 31, where does the population go? To public spaces, to the park, which has been experiencing this for at least five years.” She said she has yet to see any progress of Borough Mayor Gracia Katahwa’s promised postmortem on the project.

The Suburban asked Katahwa for comment about the proposal but received no response by press time.

Pointing to tents in the park, Valenzuela said the problem will grow and a plan should “not only ensure compassion and dignity towards the homeless, but a good cohabitation for residents.” That sentiment was echoed by D’Arcy McGee MNA and Quebec’s Official Opposition critic for combatting homelessness Elisabeth Prass, citing Quebec numbers showing a 33% increase in homelessness in Montreal from five years ago. “We’re seeing a new homelessness… people finding themselves on the street because of evictions. There is a new reality post-pandemic; inflation and housing prices that different levels of government have to consider when coming up with policies and responses to this problem.”

Montreal’s policy when tents pop up is to dismantle them says Prass, “but unless you give people somewhere else to go, it’s not a solution, you’re creating a circular problem.” Prass says she raised the issue with Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant “who is familiar with the problem and the neighborhood and agreed that the solution is to have shelters open 365 days, 24/7.” She says the ministry is waiting for the city and CDN-NDG “to deposit a project with a location and organization.”

Valenzuela noted she made “this exact request” for a facility and sufficient upstream resources 15 months ago, “and there has been no subsequent progress on this file,” despite a Projet Montreal pledge “during the 2021 election campaign, to support the implementation of additional emergency housing sites with a rehousing assistance service, year-round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” n