'Nuit des sans-abris' returns, bridging gap between housed and unhoused

The 34th edition of the Nuit des sans-abri (night of the homeless) takes place across Quebec on Friday evening, aimed at opening a dialogue between people experiencing homelessness and the general population.

From Terrebonne to Rimouski to Val-d'Or, some 50 municipalities will hold events including marches, musical performances and even circus shows, as will be the case in Montreal.

Montreal participants will gather at Phillips Square at 4 p.m. to march to Place Émilie-Gamelin. Activities will take place in the downtown park until midnight.

"There will be plenty of activities on-site, including kiosks, food, circus shows, fire-eaters and music," said Annie Archambault, spokesperson for Montreal's Nuit des sans-abri and outreach worker with RAP (Rue-Action-Prévention) jeunesse. She said the event is for everyone, including families.

"La Nuit des sans-abri is really, for one evening, about people coming to educate themselves, to raise awareness, about a reality that isn't necessarily their own. So yes, it's the night of the homeless, and it belongs to them. On the other hand, it's really about creating a dialogue, which I think is really important, especially at the moment, with the housing crisis, the economic crisis, and [as] we see that homelessness is exploding in Montreal," she explained.

A "human library" will be organized in Montreal, enabling participants to talk with people who have been, or still are, homeless.

Several activities took place earlier this week in Montreal, including warm clothing donations, as winter approaches.

Archambault, who was herself homeless for five years, said she's proud to be the spokesperson for the event.

"It's funny to say that a few years ago, I used to take part in the Nuit des sans-abri every year as a homeless person, and to know that today I've been given the privilege of representing my community, it's really a big privilege, and I'm really proud," she said.

Like Archambault, Julia Ouellet, communications officer for Réseau SOLIDARITÉ Itinérance du Québec (RISQ) and Nuit des sans-abris, sees an increase in the number of people living on the streets.

"The phenomenon of homelessness has been growing for several years now. The pandemic has certainly contributed, and we can't ignore the convergence of inflation, the housing crisis [...] and the income that remains the same [for people on social assistance]," she stressed.

In September, a report released by the Ministry of Health and Social Services indicated that 10,000 people were visibly homeless in Quebec in 2022, a 44 per cent increase since 2018.

Following the Nuit des sans-abri, Archambault hopes that participants from the general population remember that homelessness can happen to anyone.

"I think we hear a lot of claims that it's a choice," she said. "Maybe Nuit des sans-abri can highlight that it's not as easy as that, that these prejudices that we have, we can come and undo them."

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She also hopes that homeless people will feel heard at the event.

"For people experiencing homelessness, they will feel more respected by other citizens. Because, from what we can see, there's a kind of wave [of] 'not in my backyard, I don't want to see homeless people, not next to my house, no encampments,'" she explained.

She urged people "not to be afraid" of turning up for the Nuit des sans-abri.

"I think people think that Nuit des sans-abri is 'dark,' it's sad, and that's really not what we want this year. What we want is to open up a dialogue."

SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTER IN MONTREAL, LONGUEUIL

Québec solidaire MNA Manon Massé said at a press briefing Thursday that she had invited the minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant, to participate in the Nuit des sans-abri march in Montreal -- an invitation he accepted.

"I invited Minister Carmant to walk with me in the Montreal march so that I could introduce him to people, people who live on the street, people who work with these people. So that I can talk to him too, so that I have time to talk to him about the reality of these people, so that he can see concretely what it's like," said Massé.

Carmant's press attaché, Lambert Drainville, told The Canadian Press that the minister had already planned to join the Nuit des sans-abris in Longueuil but would now travel to Montreal before heading to the event on the South Shore.

At a summit on homelessness organized in September by the Union des municipalités du Québec, Carmant pledged to conduct a new count of homelessness in 2024 and announced that $20 million would be allocated to combat homelessness in Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 20, 2023.