The Mayor of Montreal pointed the finger at Quebec and Ottawa to explain the difficult situation east of downtown, adding that she refuses to “push” vulnerable people out of the neighborhood.
Posted at 2:02 p.m
Speaking at the City Council, Valérie Plante acknowledged that the park and village sector of Émilie-Gamelin was “under great pressure”. “We’ve been sounding the alarm for a long time,” she said, adding that the city is investing heavily to find solutions to the neighborhood’s problems.
Last week, the mayor denounced the province’s “absence” of social services in her efforts to restore the sector’s luster. On Monday she also highlighted the action taken by the federal government, which is housing hundreds of people from Roxham Road at Hotel Place Dupuis.
“I have asked the levels of government to shoulder their responsibilities when we suddenly add vulnerable asylum seekers to a busy square and mix that with other people with special needs,” said Ms Plante, who spoke of “overpopulation, if I may say so.” of vulnerable people”.
Ms Plante answered questions from the opposition leader at City Hall, Aref Salem, who harshly denounced the situation prevailing in the sector.
“I don’t know what the opposition leader is asking me to do, but I will not evict vulnerable populations,” she said. “I’m not pushing the world. I work with those who are there. We mean business, we have people around the table and you can count on us to treat the local population (both local populations and residents and vulnerable populations) with kindness, humanity and also with consistency. »