Winter closure of metro entrance leads to concerns for Montreal’s homeless

Montreal’s transit authorization is nether occurrence for the wintertime closure of 1 of the main entrances to a metro presumption successful an country wherever galore of the city’s unhoused are located.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) notified the nationalist earlier this period that Entrance B to the Atwater metro presumption would beryllium disconnected limits from Nov.1 until April 30, 2025, but it didn’t supply a reason. The different superior entrance, which is not located successful the aforesaid park, remains open.

The STM defended the impermanent closure Tuesday, saying it was a “informed decision,” and portion of broader measures to guarantee the information of some transit users and its unit members. It besides pointed to the “current societal context.”

“Authorizing the closure volition trim the occurrence of mischief and unwanted oregon unsafe behavior, specified arsenic bullying and and cause use,” STM spokesperson Amélie Régis said successful a statement.

“The information of our customers and staff, arsenic good arsenic the integrity of our infrastructure, remains our superior work arsenic a nationalist transit corporation.”

The determination has raised eyebrows among some lodging advocates and metropolis officials since the shuttered entranceway is located successful Cabot Square successful downtown Montreal, adjacent aggregate resources for the unhoused and vulnerable. Many of the city’s stateless question warmth and structure from the elements successful the metro strategy — particularly successful the acold wintertime months.

“I conscionable cant judge we’ve travel to this spot successful nine wherever we are starting to adjacent autobus stations arsenic solutions alternatively than lodging the homeless,” metropolis councillor Craig Sauvé said.

The Old Brewery Mission’s president and CEO besides voiced concerns with the plan, saying it doesn’t code the underlying contented of homelessness.

“It’s not taking the indispensable measures to lick the problem,” James Hughes said. “It’s conscionable moving the occupation to different place.”

The STM’s mode of announcing the closure “suggests determination is astir an unease astir the decision, that it needed to beryllium made successful a discreet and quiescent way,” Hughes added. But helium besides stressed Montreal arsenic a full has “got to bash better” erstwhile it comes to lodging and addressing problems of co-habitation.

Those who bash crook to nationalist spaces for structure “don’t privation to beryllium there,” Hughes says. “They didn’t turn up dreaming of sleeping connected the stairs of a metro station.”

“Let’s enactment our ft connected the pedal and location these people, not conscionable footwear them retired from 1 spot to the other,” Hughes said.

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With winter’s chill creeping in, Sauvé besides says further lodging and shelters are needed alternatively of wasting resources connected short-term solutions.

“It’s frustrating arsenic a policymaker to spot that we support making the incorrect decisions successful the incorrect directions,” helium said. “When we cognize the astute wealth is investing connected lodging and people.”

The metropolis councillor says helium doesn’t consciousness antithetic levels of authorities are “treating this arsenic the exigency it truly is.”

“What we request to bash is location radical immediately,” Sauvé said.

Last week, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said a “constitutional fight” betwixt Quebec and Ottawa is tying up wealth the metropolis desperately needs to woody with its worsening stateless occupation arsenic wintertime approaches.

Plante called connected the governments of Quebec and Canada to finalize a woody to escaped up what she said is $100 cardinal promised to assistance supply structure and different enactment to the province’s stateless colonisation — fractional of which she expects to spell to Montreal due to the fact that she said it has fractional of the province’s stateless population.

“We can’t permission $100 cardinal connected the array with the homelessness situation we are experiencing successful Montreal and Quebec. It doesn’t marque sense,” Plante said.

— with files from The Canadian Press