A possible overdose on the grounds of Maison Benoît Labre, now resembling an illegal campsite, occurred Monday morning in the Saint-Henri district of Montreal.
When we learned that complaints from Montreal citizens have exploded to 311 in connection with homelessness and drug addiction, a team of TVA News who was filming in the neighborhood witnessed this worrying situation.
Firefighters and paramedics quickly arrived on the scene. Some individuals became very aggressive.
This is the kind of situation that citizens experience on a daily basis and that they deplore. Remember that this possible overdose occurred just a few meters from an elementary school near Atwater Avenue and Notre-Dame Street.
A new camp
Furthermore, the grounds of Maison Benoît Labre were transformed into a camp for the homeless on Monday morning.
Around twenty people with their tents set up near the day center.
Several citizens of the Saint-Henri district have complained about the presence of this new illegal campsite.
Reports to 311 explode
According to a report produced by the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) last July, crimes against the person have almost doubled with an increase of 93% within a 250m radius around the shelter.
According to a report released Monday by The Journala record number of 1,156 requests in the “social development” category were registered with the City of Montreal’s 311 service, in the first ten months of 2024.
For the entire year of 2021, barely 114 calls of the same type had been recorded. In 2019, it was 48, the City’s open data shows.
More than 250 new accommodation places
New data obtained by TVA News with the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal show a significant addition of more than 250 accommodation places, from 1is December in the metropolis.
Currently, just over 1,835 homeless community accommodation places are available, we are told. From 1is December, the CIUSSS plans a total of 1,964 places.
The occupancy rate for all organizations is almost 100%.
The total number of places is increasing. This time last year, there were 1706.
See the full explanation in the video above
