Montreal to Help/Punish Homeless
The City of Montreal adopted 26 recommendations put forth by the municipal committee on cultural development and quality of life in an attempt to curb homelessness on the island.
In order to implement these recommendations, the city will be requesting not only a funding renewal of $120 million from the province, but also for an injection of $12 million in additional aid. Last year the Quebec government increased funding by only $2 million.
The city of Montreal wants to stop the rise in homelessness and raise the standard of living for those already on the streets. The city is seeking to provide more - and better - housing solutions.
Along with a promise to increase the amount of special training that police receive for situations involving the homeless, a team of mediators will also be offered to resolve disputes between merchants and local homeless. Hopefully these two initiatives will help to lessen the involvement of the courts, but this remains to be seen.
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While this plan seems steeped in good intentions, there are some pressing issues that remain open, namely: the debilitating effect that ticketing has on the poor and homeless populations. The Montreal Police force is constantly targeting and ticketing the city's homeless and burdening them with an impossible to pay debt.
With over 30 000 homeless here on the streets of Montreal, local services are unable to deal with every individual who needs a good meal and a place to sleep. When people are turned away and then try to find solutions to these problems on their own - by, for example, camping outdoors or squeegeeing for change - they often find themselves in a more desperate situation; still hungry, still homeless, and now with a debt to society.
If the city really wants to decrease homelessness and increase the quality of life for those on the streets, they will need to find an alternative policy to ticketing. Some of their recommendations are considering this fact, but the underlaying issue remains to be resolved.
