Montreal Chinatown residents urge city to act against crime, drug use

Residents of Montreal's Chinatown say they're feeling vulnerable and afraid because of rising crime and drug use in their neighbourhood, and they are urging the city to deploy more police to tackle the problem.

A group of residents and merchants told a news conference Thursday they're being exposed to acts of vandalism, harassment, and violence as a result of an increase in drug trafficking and homelessness.

John Liu, the priest at the local Chinese Catholic church, said he was kicked by a woman outside his church last month. His church doors have been vandalized, and parishioners have had their car mirrors smashed, he added.

"Even our parishioners are afraid of going to church," said Liu, who also manages an organization that helps seniors.

Several residents and business owners at the news conference blamed a homeless shelter, opened during the COVID-19 pandemic, that they say has attracted drug dealers to the neighbourhood and has increased crime, disorder and unhygienic conditions, such as streets littered with urine, feces and garbage.

Bryant Chang, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Montreal, says the homeless population has "exploded" and suggests Chinatown has become a "dumping ground" for social problems that originate elsewhere.

"Chinatown should not be the dumping ground for the homeless, and cohabitation is not the right concept, or a long-term solution to such a complex social problem," he said.

At the news conference, some suggested that homeless people from the city's Village district — which is also struggling with homelessness, addiction, and crime — are increasingly moving to Chinatown.

While the homeless shelter in Chinatown, run by an organization called Société de développement social, is scheduled to close this fall, the group of residents are concerned that Montreal's mayor has suggested that another could open in the district.

They're calling for police to increase foot patrols and to enforce all laws and bylaws, and for authorities to hold wider public consultations with residents about the area's safety and quality of life. They also want to prevent new homeless shelters from opening in Chinatown, they said.

Christiane Jansen, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, said the yelling, fights and drug use she has witnessed, has made her nervous to leave her home at night.

"They fight over drugs, there is screaming, it's not tolerable," she said.

She said the shelter closes early in the morning, leaving the clientele to spend the day hanging out in the public square, openly consuming drugs and alcohol and attracting drug dealers.

Jansen, like many at the news conference, acknowledged that people struggling with addiction and homelessness need somewhere to go. But she said the solution is not shelters but rather initiatives that tackle the root of the problem, such as permanent housing and drug treatment facilities.

Fo Niemi, founder of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, a non-profit civil rights organization that often defends victims of alleged police abuse, was asked whether more policing was the best way to deal with homelessness and addiction.

In response, he said the group wants a crackdown on criminal behaviours such as drug crimes and assault, not on homelessness itself. He said the area has always had some homeless people living there, and that many residents and businesses offer them food.

But the newer group, Niemi said, are people with "very threatening conduct" that is menacing Chinatown's population, many of whom are immigrant seniors with their own vulnerabilities and whose voices have been lost.

"The homeless are recognized as vulnerable, but seniors are not," he said.

Niemi said his group is open to taking legal action on behalf of the residents once it figures out which level of government should be held responsible.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2023.