Advocates say the death toll among Montreal's homeless population over the past three years is alarming.
“There are 35 people here today and it's growing,” David Chapman said at the memorial in Cabot Square. “We put another picture up right away, so there are 36 people now.”
That's just the people served by Resilience Montreal, a community organization that provides services to the homeless. Chapman stressed that those 36 are just the ones they've heard of. He's sure there are many more. Resilience's executive director estimates that at least 12 people died last year and more are expected in 2024, including at least one person who lived underneath the Ville-Marie Expressway.
A woman looks at photos of deceased homeless people during a memorial service in Montreal, Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Advocates say the recent increase in homeless deaths in Montreal points not only to a failure of government but also of society as a whole. (Global News)
“Matthew. Matthew Donohue, right there,” he said, pointing to a picture of the man taped to a white display board, alongside photos of other victims.
Chapman said Donohoe was among the campers evicted last summer when an alternative campsite was not arranged.
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“We warned people that if you just kick people out without giving them an actual place to go, they’re going to hide out and be more likely to die from an overdose,” he recalled. “And that’s exactly what happened.”
According to him, Donohue was found in a public toilet cubicle suffering from a drug overdose.
“You can say 'I told you so,' but what does that solve?” he asked.
Other staff members said another notable fact was that more than half of the 36 were Aboriginal women.
“There was a woman here named Elizapi Putoguk who froze to death because she had nowhere to go,” said Nakuset, executive director of the Montreal Aboriginal Women's Shelter.
Resilience Montreal officials said they held the commemoration to highlight the severity of the city's homelessness problem, but it was also a way for other members of the homeless community to support each other.
“This gives us time to mourn,” emphasized customer Vanessa Lapres. “Because when we were homeless, there were no funerals to go to and no one to …” She broke down in tears and couldn't finish her words, but later said she and others were grateful for the event.
Advocates say the fact that so many people die on the streets is a sign of government failure and say it doesn't provide enough services for the homeless.
“We need more day shelters for people in crisis,” Nakuset noted. “So if they come in after drinking, we need to provide services for them so they are not turned away.”
Chapman also believes services should be open to all communities, but he acknowledges that is difficult.
“Because you’re dealing with community after community that is unwilling to provide community resources to the homeless,” he noted.
This has led to over-concentration of resources in some areas and raised coexistence issues, he said.
As advocates and clients mourn the death, they worry that the situation will only get worse.
