29-05-2025
Frustrated citizens' committee calls for action on homelessness in Milton-Parc
Montreal Politics
By
A group of citizens in the Milton-Parc area is calling on the city to take a greater leadership role in settling the homelessness situation in the area.
The citizens say they are growing frustrated with the lack of progress in addressing the root causes of homelessness that have resulted in an explosion of people living on the street.
'It is frustrating,' said Martin Coles, who speaks for the Comité de bon voisinage Milton-Parc. 'We've talked with various politicians as a committee, and they always respond by saying 'it's very complex,' as if the word complex is a magic word that you can utter and then we'll stop bothering them. We know it's complex, and our response is: Why aren't you doing something about this complex problem?'
The group published a report this week that calls for the city to implement solutions, such as expropriating a fenced-off lot of land at the southeast corner of Milton St. and Parc Ave. in order to provide social housing for the community. The group would like to see the city implement culturally appropriate housing in the area that would cater to specific needs of those in the Inuit community, many of whom are regularly living on the street.
They are also calling on the city to head up a committee made up of all levels of government and the health-care sector in order to address the root causes of poverty and homelessness.
And the report recommends the city redesign the road network in the area to improve pedestrian safety.
This isn't the first report to delve into the problems of the area. In 2022, city ombudsperson Nadine Mailloux published a report called Don't Look the Other Way, highlighting a 'glaringly urgent' problem of access to health care and appropriate services.
That report detailed prostitution in alleyways, violent altercations, drug consumption and the littering of needles and empty beer bottles in the area. An unsafe situation had led to six vehicular accidents in two years, including one that resulted in the death of Kitty Kakkinerk, a 44-year-old Inuit woman who was struck by a car, and another that resulted in serious injuries.
In 2023, Mailloux said there had been some progress, adding the 'city has really received the emergency message.' However, her recommendation for the city to set up a culturally appropriate group home setting for the Inuit population in the area remains unheeded.
Coles, too, is urging the city to set up such a space as soon as possible.
'I'm hopeful a solution will be found, and all we can do as a committee is make our recommendations and hope they help,' he said. 'It's all drops of water in the Grand Canyon.'
The Gazette reached out for reaction to Luc Rabouin, the mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough, where the area is located. Simon Charron, a spokesperson for the Plante administration, responded with a written statement acknowledging the report, saying it will be analyzed in the coming months.
Speaking for Ensemble Montréal, Benoit Langevin, the opposition party's spokesperson on homelessness issues, said the lack of progress in Milton-Parc is proof the Plante administration has mishandled the file.
'How many reports are we going to have before there is action? This is another example of Projet Montréal buying time while doing nothing,' Langevin said.
He said Rabouin has done little as borough mayor to improve the situation, so has little credibility when he promises to address the issue as the Projet Montréal candidate for citywide mayor in the Nov. 2 election.
'It will be part of our vision in the upcoming campaign,' Langevin said. 'Montreal has to increase and adapt its funding in order to be able to address all these issues, like having transitional facilities.'
He said an Ensemble Montréal administration, under leader Soraya Martinez Ferrada, would outline clear plans to deal with homeless encampments and emergency shelters.
