New Quebec premier unveils $28M in emergency funding to tackle homelessness as winter nears

Just two days after being sworn in as Quebec Premier, Paul Saint-Pierre Plamondon announced that the province will inject money to fight homelessness. Saint-Pierre Plamondon, who is taking on the file personally, announced $28 million will be spread across 16 regions in the province. We're merely covering an emergency situation because we have 5,000 just in Montreal, 5,000 persons without a roof. Montreal is getting the lion's share of the money, around $16 million. The news came on the same day the city dismantled an encampment in Ville-Marie over security concerns. We have to make it easy for community organizations to do the work that they have to do, which is take care of people, because we're counting on them. This brings Quebec's total investment to fight homelessness this winter to $46 million. The additional funds will go towards winter emergency measures province-wide and 1,000 spaces in heated shelters. The problems are also outside of big cities. Earlier this month, a woman died in Saint-Hyacinthe, trying to seek warmth in a ferry terminal. We need stable and predictable funding, not just for municipalities, but for community organizations. The premier admits the funds are just a Band-Aid solution. He's planning a summit early in the new year. All this is not sustainable. So I hope that the summit, with the help of people who have an expertise, These will bring us to a strategy where we go to the causes, the roots of what's going on right now. And right now there's a lot of bleeding, so we need band-aids right now. Of course we need to work on prevention, but there's a lot of work right now on the streets. That's why we need more money on the street and more action. The long-term goal, one the Premier admits is ambitious, is to cut homelessness in half within four years. We need to see that from a broader perspective than just the issue of homelessness and that means really looking at the Quebec society and where we stand in terms of social health. Montreal's mayor is also optimistic that the premier's announcement indicates a fresh start with the provincial government after years of tense relations with the previous CAQ leadership.