Tensions are rising between Montreal’s residents and unhoused people. Is cohabitation possible?

A controversial homeless shelter located just steps from an elementary school in Montreal’s Saint-Henri neighbourhood is underscoring the problems with social cohabitation in multiple communities across the city. 

Maison Benoît Labre has drawn the ire of parents and local residents, who say the facility has been harming the character of the high-traffic, eclectic neighbourhood since opening in April across the street from the Atwater Market. 

They say they’ve witnessed open drug use, aggressive behaviour and sexual conduct from frequenters of the day centre, including when children are around. The back door of the centre borders a park used by Victor-Rousselot elementary school. 

Last week, the Quebec government agreed to Montreal’s request to relocate some of the day services offered at the shelter “to a more suitable location,” after months of the city defending the facility. 

So what makes a neighbourhood “suitable” for resources to help vulnerable populations dealing with chronic homelessness or addiction? And can residents of those neighbourhoods — and the people who use those resources — coexist peacefully?

Right way, right place

Sam Watts, CEO of Montreal’s Welcome Hall Mission in the Saint-Henri neighbourhood, says he understands parents’ concerns about Benoît Labre. He says cohabitation between users of resources and neighbouring residents can be done successfully, but it hinges on multiple factors.

“What we need to do in all of our facilities … is make very sure that the right service is being delivered in the right way, by the right people, in the right place,” he said. 

That includes having facilities run by professionally qualified people and resources located in buildings where everyone in the surrounding area is aware of what is being offered. He says managing those facilities in ways that promote good neighbour relationships, like open communication with residents, is key.

“When an incident occurs … make sure that you go out there and talk to people and you manage the situation.” he said, pointing to the Maison du Père men’s shelter on René-Lévesque Boulevard as a good example of this. “If you just simply [let] things go, then a narrative develops. And it’s not always the right narrative.”

Last month, in response to the worsening homelessness situation and a rise in complaints from residents near resources for homeless people, the city announced it will be holding public consultations to get input on how to cohabitate peacefully. 

One of the main objectives, it said, will be to identify best practices and initiatives to support vulnerable people and promote social cohabitation when setting up new resources and services, especially in boroughs that are not used to this reality.

Marie-Andrée Painchaud-Mathieu, co-ordinator of Regroupement intersectoriel des organismes communautaires de Montréal (RIOCM), says for cohabitation to be successful, vulnerable people must have their basic needs met, including better access to health care and, above all, housing.

On Wednesday, Montreal announced it was planning to build 60 modular housing units by March 2025 to provide temporary accommodation for unhoused Montrealers waiting for social housing.

Although the locations of the units have not yet been decided, social acceptability is already a concern, with the city promising to hold discussions with residents to ensure that the project is integrated smoothly.

Painchaud-Mathieu says the focus is too centred on cases where cohabitation is not currently working and not enough on the many cases where it is. 

“If we don’t know the [facilities], if we’re not able to name them all, it’s because it’s working really well. It’s good news,” she said, saying there are hundreds of organizations helping out communities across the island that are doing just fine.

Quebec looks to restrict consumption sites near schools

Painchaud-Mathieu believes the problem is that the issue has been over politicized, pointing to federal Conservative Leader Pierre Pollievre’s comments at a recent visit to Benoît Labre, where he vowed to shut down supervised consumption sites in locations that “endanger the public.”

She says politicians at all levels of government should focus on helping those in need instead of passing the blame and trying to earn points “on the backs of marginalized people.”

On Tuesday, the Coalition Avenir Québec government confirmed it is looking at the possibility of banning supervised consumption sites near schools and child-care centres — following the lead of Ontario.

The office of Quebec Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant says it will wait for recommendations from the government’s health bodies before moving forward. 

But Myrlène Sauveur, the director of a daycare in downtown Montreal, wants the minister to act quickly. 

“This is still a proposal — I want this to be concrete,” she said.

Her daycare, CPE La Petite Colonie, is located in the same church as St. Michael’s Mission, which serves the homeless community. 

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In February, a worker found a dead body in the daycare’s playground. Sauveur says parents have also been harassed by users of the shelter and some children have had nightmares from what they’ve seen. 

She says the daycare educates children about those experiencing homelessness, but “a child isn’t there to understand someone who … takes drugs, a naked person who screams at them and scares them,” she said. 

Sauveur says vulnerable people need and deserve resources, “but they can have resources far away from a daycare, far away from a school.”

‘We’re not bad people, we’re only homeless’ 

Painchaud-Mathieu says the proposed plan will lead to more stigmatization of vulnerable people. 

“It implies that these people are dangerous to children. I’d love to see statistics on the crimes these people commit against children, [because] that’s not what the studies tell us,” she said. 

Stephane Neveu, who uses the services at St. Michael’s Mission, says the government’s plan feels like an overall judgment of the unhoused population. 

“We’re not child molesters. We’re not bad people, we’re only homeless,” he said. 

Neveu has been living on the street since February after he lost his apartment and all of his belongings in a fire. He says it’s disheartening to see how his government views people in his situation. 

“It’s not because we’re homeless that we’re going to attack some kids at school,” he said. 

Watts says another ingredient of successful cohabitation is not “othering” vulnerable populations.

“There’s no such thing as them and us. There’s only us,” he said. “When we start that way, we always end up in the right place.”