After another homeless person died outside in Montreal, the city’s mayor on Monday implored the provincial government to do more to help people struggling with homelessness.
“I’ll be really honest, I feel like us, Montrealers, wish that our premier, François Legault, would be as interested in people that sleep in the street (as he is) for people that pray in the street,” an emotional Valérie Plante told reporters, referring to the premier’s recent musings to outlaw prayer in schools, parks and other public spaces.
The death she was referring to occurred early on Sunday: a 55-year-old homeless man was found unresponsive outside in a public square in Montreal’s Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.
“He’s not a number — he’s the third person to die in the street this year,” Plante said, offering her sympathies during a housing announcement in the west-end of Montreal.
“He was someone’s son, possibly someone’s brother, perhaps someone’s father …