Opinion: It’s time to treat homelessness as an emergency

At a press conference last week to announce funding for more social-mediation resources at encampments along Notre-Dame St. E., Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada pushed aside her notes and spoke instead about the death of two unhoused persons, unrelated but occurring within the same week. Through tears, she emphasized it’s not normal to lose people when we have the means to save them. The message is addressed to us all, but first and foremost to the city as an entity. It’s also the first time we’ve witnessed our new mayor, up until now dispassionate to a fault (dull even in her election night victory speech) show emotion in her role. And who can blame her? Montreal is in crisis and has been for some time, with housing starts stagnating, public-transit funding choked and homelessness visibly on the rise. We seem to have hit a new low with the deaths of three homeless men in two days, a sobering reminder that human tragedies are occurring while the city drags along trying to patch up failing systems. Admitting to feeling helpless to act alone — and rightly so; the city simply doesn’t have the resources to navigate alone through this crisis — Martinez Ferrada did something that had become a hallmark of her predecessor, Valérie Plante: she called on Ottawa and Quebec for assistance. What we need is concerted action; what we don’t need is to wait for another tragedy to occur. Montrealers can see the issues only too clearly. Almost everyone seems to have at least one story in recent memory of an encounter with violence or misery, whether it’s witnessing psychological distress, open drug consumption or other behaviours euphemistically referred to as “incivilities.” Incidents have become more frequent but our individual experiences remain anecdotal. We may each have stories, but how do these fit together as part of a larger portrait of public insecurity and distress? One place to look is the STM text line launched in November 2024 for users to report violent or disruptive behaviours; after one year, 25,000 user messages were recorded, leading to more than 7,000 interventions. On its website, the STM describes the text line as “appreciated by our customers as it facilitates interventions and reinforces the feeling of security.” Hopefully, this is more than a feel-good measure meant to assuage unease with an increasingly unreliable transit system. At least, the compiled body of texts sent by STM users serves to identify primary “hot spots” and causes, important data to inform resource allocation. Returning home from a (rare) Thursday night out a couple of weeks ago, I came down the escalators at Saint-Laurent métro to find an official-looking group huddled in the centre of the station, their faces drawn in concern. Among them were STM president Aref Salem and CEO Marie-Claude Léonard, and city executive committee president Claude Pinard, accompanied by members of Montreal’s public security team. Editor’s Picks They were there to observe some of the hot spots along the Green Line based on some of that user feedback, to witness interactions with the STM’s public security officers and to take notes. We tend to be quick to accuse our elected representatives of being disconnected from reality; personally, I can think of a lot of places I’d rather spend a Thursday night, so my first thought is to salute their presence. There’s nothing quite like boots on the ground to assess for oneself the need for urgent action. Creating a safe transit experience for all Montrealers is not incompatible with addressing the needs of vulnerable populations. The city has acted decisively in adding warming shelters this winter and in increasing the number of social resources on the streets. Social housing continues to lag behind real needs while shelters do their best to fill the gap. Ensuring civility in the métro and other public spaces isn’t just about contributing to a feeling of public security; it’s about ensuring our public infrastructure serves its primary purpose, and that people with other needs are directed to appropriate services. In a social media post, Pinard says we’ve grown accustomed to accepting homelessness as part of the scenery rather than treating it as an emergency. He’s right. If it’s an emergency, we need to start acting accordingly. Former Montreal city councillor Justine McIntyre is a political commentator and strategic consultant.