A group of residents in the city’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough is proposing solutions to the homelessness problem in their neighbourhood.
Members of the Milton-Parc Good Neighbourhood Committee say they deplore what they see as a “lack of leadership” among various levels of government, and are urging decision-makers to take action.
One of them, Martin Coles, lives near the corner of Milton Street and Parc Avenue where he says living conditions are clearly deteriorating.
“We see the problem here as a humanitarian problem,” he pointed out while chatting with unhoused residents at the intersection.
The area has become a gathering spot for the unhoused population who spend day and night on the sidewalks. The neighbourhood committee was created in 2022 to try to understand the situation and propose solutions.
“We wrote our report, which we’ve just released, and it contains five big recommendations,” Coles said.
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In addition to calling for a better dispersion of services for the unhoused, wider sidewalks and more trees along Parc Avenue, the group wants the city to expropriate the empty lot and building at south-east area of the intersection to build social housing, with the needs of the area’s Inuit in mind.
They also want authorities to establish a single committee empowered to coordinate the four levels of government in implementing a plan to tackle homelessness.
Coles wants a single body to coordinate the resources to help to break down siloes.
“Each level of government is concerned with its own immediate resources and things,” he stressed.
It’s something that’s long concerned others who serve the homeless community, like Sam Watts, Welcome Hall Mission CEO
“This is what I’ve been saying — we need to have all government levels coming together, and we need to do it quickly,” he told Global News.
He stressed that the idea of housing people and providing services to help ensure they can stay there makes sense, adding that it’s key to create a community where people facing similar circumstances can support each other.
“Because simply putting somebody between four walls and a roof is never enough.”
The Milton-Parc Neighbourhod Committee hopes all levels of government will make concrete moves soon to help the most vulnerable.
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Milton-Parc citizens’ committee calls for more action on homelessness
