The city of Montreal will soon have an ombudsman to represent the homeless, part of a plan to reduce the number of homeless in the city by two-thirds by the year 2020.
The new ombudsman is supposed to be a protector of the homeless and act as a liaison with shelters and social programs but also as an advocate for more social housing. They will be expected to help find ways to deal with a broad range of issues faced by the city's homeless. The mayor is expected to fill the job within the next two to three months.
Matthew Pearce, director of the Old Brewery Mission, says the ombudsman’s first job will be to consult with homeless shelters and listen to what's really needed.
“We've had miracles of people who you would look at and say that guy's going to be be homeless all the rest of his life and that's not the case with the right supports, partnerships with the hospitals and so on … We think it's possible to end chronic homelessness,” he said.
A survey conducted in March put the number of the city's homeless at 3,016. Of those, about 1,360 were deemed to be cyclically homeless, a situation where people go in and out of homelessness.
Another 780 were deemed chronically homeless and are the people who face a range of mental health and addiction issues that block them from changing their situation for the better.
