Longueuil unveils plan to fight homelessness as encampments increase
With shelters full and encampments cropping up, the City of Longueuil followed Montreal's lead and unveiled its first action plan to fight homelessness.
Homeless encampments across the suburban communities are relatively new to Longueuil's landscape but have become more common recently.
"We always had homelessness, but mostly around the metro. But now it's all around the city," said Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier.
There are at least 15 people living in tents throughout the city, and as many as 1,000 people are homeless.
Fournier says the problem grew during the pandemic, but that wasn't the only factor.
"The housing crisis, the opioid crisis, and the mental health crisis, so it's the perfect storm," she said.
Dolly Shinhat, director general of Our Harbour, runs a housing program for people with mental illness. She, too, says she has noticed the increase.
"All the resources are overwhelmed," said Shinhat. "There's these new encampments because there aren't places for people to go."
Fournier admits that resources are scarce, and with around just 100 beds available, shelters in Longueuil are full.
L'Halte du Coin is a shelter that operates out of a church and has 35 beds. General manager Pierre Rousseau and his team are trying to find and fund a new location. He wishes the city, provincial and federal governments were better coordinated.
"Do they manage this together, or do they agree with their responsibility to each other?" asked Rousseau. "Meantime, I'm just waiting with no money."
L'Halte du Coin shelter in Longueuil wants to expand and add more beds, but struggles to find funds. (Angela McKenzie/CTV News)
Longueuil has earmarked more than $800,000 to fight homelessness. The money is mostly for pilot projects, adding more public toilets, training library employees and planning for a future safe drug use site.
The mayor said Longueuil is doing what it can, but other governments need to chip in.
"I think Quebec and the Canadian government can do better," she said.
Unlike Montreal, Fournier said Longueuil has no plans to dismantle encampments given the lack of shelter space and resources available.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.
What's causing the catastrophic rainfall in Kenya?
The torrential rains and deadly floods that have hit Kenya since March have been some of the worst in the country in recent years. Here's how factors combined to create the deadly deluge.