Without more warming centres, expect rise in homeless deaths: Montreal borough mayor

By The Canadian Press on December 16, 2024.

A Montreal police cruiser is shown in Montreal, Nov. 9, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL – A Quebec coroner will investigate the death of a 55-year-old unhoused man found in a park early Sunday in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

Police say hypothermia could be the cause of the man’s death, after he was found unresponsive at a public square in the city’s east end.

The man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Borough Mayor Pierre Lessard-Blais called the death “an avoidable and sadly predictable tragedy,” adding that it demonstrates the need for a provincewide plan to address homelessness.

In a social media post, the borough mayor says the premier has said the worst of the homeless crisis is over, but Lessard-Blais disagrees.

Lessard-Blais says that without more emergency shelters and warming centres there will be more deaths of unhoused people as winter sets in.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.