A man died after being found Sunday morning at Place Simon-Valois, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district. Hypothermia could be the cause of his death, according to the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM).
Posted at 2:53 p.m.
Updated at 3:00 p.m.
The police received a call regarding the presence of the inert person in this park around 9 a.m. They attempted resuscitation maneuvers before transporting him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy will be performed by the Coroner’s Office to determine if hypothermia was the primary cause of death.
“It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of a person experiencing homelessness at Place Valois,” shared the head of homelessness within Projet Montréal, Robert Beaudry, on X.
“We can no longer wait: it is urgent to open new warmth centers and shelters in Montreal to protect the most vulnerable. The City is ready to act and calls on the government to join this effort,” he added.
For months, municipalities and communities have been trying hard to say that things are bad, that we need to open more emergency shelters and establish a national plan before the cold weather arrives. Meanwhile, Lionel Carmant and François Legault say that things are getting better and better, that most of the crisis is over, that we are making progress. This morning’s death is a tragic reminder of reality.
Pierre Lessard-Blais, mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
“Without rapid and concrete intervention from the health network to open shelters, deaths in the street, in the cold, fires, tragedies, there will be others,” he warns.
“It is our citizens who are dying in the streets and it is unacceptable. This is not the society we want! » added Projet Montréal advisor Alia Hassan-Cournol.
“At the government of Quebec, we local elected officials want to act, we can no longer wait and we urgently ask that financial and material resources be released. The City is ready and we are reaching out to you,” she adds.
During the night of December 15, the mercury dropped to -13 degrees Celsius.
