The respite center for itinerant clients set up in the basement of Saint-Roch church will remain open for a few more nights and could be maintained until the end of winter, when the worst seems to have been avoided for the cold snap.
Since Sunday, the itinerant population has had access to this second room with 60 places managed by the Répit Basse-Ville organization, on the fringes of the polar vortex which has caused the temperature to drop drastically.
The latter is in addition to a first location with 100 seats located at 399, rue Saint-Joseph Est.
The results so far are reassuring. Several sources told us that no one was forced to spend the night in the extreme cold due to lack of space in the available resources.
According to spokesperson Raphaëlle Plante, of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, “the reception capacity of the two premises made it possible to respond to demand at all times”.
Until the end of winter?
However, a sign that the needs are great, the second location at Saint-Roch Church will still be open at night at least until Saturday morning. It must be said that minimum temperatures will still drop to around -20 degrees.
“The objective of the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, Répit Basse-Ville and all partners is to have enough staff in place to keep this second location open until the end of winter,” specifies Mme Plante.
-In Lauberivière, general director Éric Boulay was delighted with the mobilization of the various stakeholders. The efforts paid off as the shelter was able to absorb all the requests received, except during the coldest Tuesday night, when five people had to be referred to Répit Basse-Ville.
“My wish would be that heat stops like this, which are very complementary to our work, would be permanent services,” he says.
Injured police officers
On the other hand, the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) indicated Wednesday that two of its police officers suffered minor injuries during an intervention during the day on Tuesday.
According to spokesperson William Robitaille, agents who are members of the MULTI team, which works with vulnerable clients, went around noon to a business in Limoilou to take care of a person who seemed “confused”.
The 31-year-old man initially appeared collaborative, but reportedly became disorganized after being taken to a help resource. He allegedly attacked the police officers, who tried unsuccessfully to use the electric shock weapon. They were taken to hospital for evaluation.
Other officers took charge of the suspect, who was detained and was expected in court on Wednesday.
