MONTREAL - The City of Montreal says it is fed up with waiting for Quebec to provide enough resources for homeless people in crisis.
The situation is deteriorating, said Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, repeating a request Monday for a meeting with Health Minister Yves Bolduc.
The request comes three days after Farshad Mohammadi, a 34-year-old man with an unstable living situation, was fatally shot by Montreal police after he pulled a knife on an officer inside Bonaventure metro station.
I can't believe he's gone. I really can't believe it," said Gille St-Louis, a neighbour near the halfway house on Ste. Marguerite St. in St. Henri where Mohammadi lived as part of a government program aimed at providing stable homes for people with mental illnesses.
"Sometimes he could be really good, sometimes he could be very bad. He was like that. He never had the same temper… and I don't know if he was taking his medication," he said.
The owner of a depanneur downstairs from Mohammadi's apartment said he went to court to have the man evicted from the building due to his aggressive behaviour. He was evicted on Dec. 18.
Mohammadi is the second man with an unstable living situation to die at the hands of police within a year. In June, Mario Hamel was killed by police after an aggressive altercation. Bystander Patrick Limoges was also fatally shot in that incident.
A rally to remember Farshad Mohammadi will take place Tuesday afternoon at Bonaventure metro.
Not only has the issue of homelessness become a larger problem, but so has the issue of the homeless population in crisis, said Jocelyn Ann Campbell, head of the executive committee responsible for community and social development for the City of Montreal.
"These people need help and there's an urgency to act," said Campbell.
Of the 30,000 members of the population in Montreal facing homelessness at some point during the year, about 30 per cent are dealing with an illness.
Campbell referred to the issue not as a municipal affair, but as a mental health problem, which should be addressed by the province's health department.
The city repeated some requests it had previously made, including obtaining more emergency beds and consolidating a homelessness mobile intervention team.
It also asked that the homeless be referred to hospitals and receive better follow-up upon discharge.
"They end up in the emergency (ward) of the hospital," said Campbell. "They're treated, they're released, and a few days or a few weeks later, they go back. Another hospital, the same situation."
It also called on amendments to the law regarding the right to refuse treatment.
Pierre Gaudreau, of homeless advocacy group RAPSIM said police also need to take some responsibility.
"The Taser is not the solution, but sometimes it could be better than shooting. Pepper spray could be better than shooting," said Gaudreau.
Police officers would not be placed in a position to shoot homeless people if they had support, said Yves Francoeur of the Police Brotherhood.
"We need social workers on the street to go see those people -- where they sleep, where they live, where they go during the day," he said.
With files from La Presse Canadienne.
