‘It makes no sense’: Plante urges CAQ to accept federal money for homelessness

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is calling on Quebec and Ottawa to settle a "constitutional fight" that’s holding up $100 million the province needs to tackle its homelessness problem.

"We can’t allow ourselves in Quebec and Montreal, with the homelessness crisis we’re going through, to leave $100 million on the table. It makes no sense."

Back in September, the federal government announced it was earmarking $250 million to help open more shelter spaces, transitional homes and housing services across the country.

A Radio-Canada report published Friday said Ottawa promised Quebec $50 million from that envelope so long as the province matches the investment and provide a spending plan. But negotiations, which are tying up $100 million, have been dragging.

Plante expects $25 million to go to Montreal as about half of the province’s unhoused population lives in the city and told journalists at a news conference Friday that the money is urgently needed.

"Winter is coming ... there are lots of people in the streets, and people die in the streets, that’s the current situation," she said, pointing to the death of a man in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood Thursday.

She said the money would go directly to community organizations that work with the homeless population on the ground, to shelters and to possibly open more emergency warming tents once winter sets in.

She urged Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant, Housing Minister France-Elaine Duranceau and Premier Francois Legault to move quickly.

When asked about safety and security around the city, Robert Beaudry, who is on the city’s executive committee dealing with homelessness, told journalists that’s exactly why the city is urging Quebec to take the federal funds.

"The resources to avoid having homelessness boil over into public spaces, they need what, they need money. They need expertise, they need adapted infrastructure and that’s why that money needs to go directly to cities and all over Quebec," he said.

A spokesperson for federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser said Carmant was asked to partner with Ottawa "to help find homes for those living without them in Quebec" and is "[looking] forward to concluding an agreement."

A spokesperson for Carmant’s office said the "negotiations are going well. As for the money, we expect to get our fair share."

Though "there is no question of refusing the money offered by Ottawa," Quebec is negotiating its financial participation "given all the money the government is investing in homelessness," said spokesperson Marie Barrette.

She said Quebec gave Ottawa its proposition and is waiting to hear back.

But Plante said we’re now in mid-November with no assurance that the funding is coming.

No more band-aids, says Plante

Though Plante says the $100 million is urgently needed, there also needs to be a long-term plan to address the vulnerability crisis.

She said it’s good to be discussing emergency shelters and warming tents, but "that’s not a lifestyle."

"What’s obvious is that right now we’re living a societal crisis," she said.

"Part of me wants to say we need to stop seeing homelessness as separate issues that we cover up with band-aids when it’s hemorrhaging right now."

She said the province needs to invest more in social housing so people can get back on their feet and to give more leeway for cities to negotiate with people who live in encampments on land owned by Quebec.

She is also pushing for more health care for those with addiction issues.

"Thirty per cent of homeless people are under 30 with addiction issues, often coming out of the foster care system (DPJ)," she said.

"We know what to do with the money, community organizations know what to do," she added. 

 James Hughes, CEO of the Old Brewery Mission, said funding "can't come early enough."

"[We have to] make sure we have great assessment tools on the safety of these encampments, make sure we have both the psychosocial, and the medical teams that can go in and get to know these people, create, the kinds of links that create confidence," he said.

With files from CTV News Montreal's Angela Mackenzie