Montreal: City cuts funds for homeless drop-in centres FWD
Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Fri, 30 Oct 1998 02:35:31 -0400
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FWD Montreal Gazette - Oct 28, 1998
CITY CUTS FUNDING TO DROP-IN CDNTERS
By David Johnston, The Gazette
The Bourque adminstration, apparently coasting to an election victory on
Sunday, has decided to cut city funding for three inner-city drop-in
centres for the homeless and mentally ill.
The decision came under heavy criticism yesterday from candidates for the
three parties running behind mayor Pierre Bourque's Vision Montreal party
in the polls.
"It's terrible," said Louise Boyne, a candidate in the western downtown
ward of Peter McGill.
"It's immoral," said Lucia Kowaluk, the co-lister candidate of the Montreal
Citizens' Movement in the east-downtown district of Jeanne Mance, currently
represented by MCM mayoral candidate Michel Prescott.
At a press conference yesterday at St. James United Church on Ste.
Catherine St. W., representatives of the three drop-in centres said the
municipal funding pullout will result in fewer services for the homeless
and mentally ill.
The three centres are the St. James Drop-In Centre, situated on church
property, the Amis du Plateau Mount-Royal on Papineau Ave. and the Centre
de Soir Denise Masse on Amherst St. The three centres used to receive
$105,000 in municipal funding. They currently receive $30,000, and have
been told all funding will end next April.
Health Board's Responsibility
The explanation from the city is that mental health is a provincial
jurisdiction.
"It's the responsibility of the regional provincial health board," said
Michaeli Cantero, an official of the city's executive committee.
Isabelle Leduc, co-ordinator of the St. James centre, said she met last
month with two bureaucrats in the city department of sports, recreation and
social development to protest against the cuts, and was told that the some
members of the executive committee strongly believe it isn't the city's
role to help the mentally ill.
The St. James centre, open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., sees 75 homeless people a
day. It provides late-afternoon suppers for an average 40 people a day.
Three-quarters of its clientele are schizophrenics. The centre employs a
staff of five, including three social workers and two security guards.
Among other things, the social workers make sure clients are taking their
medication as prescribed. A psychiatric nurse visits once a week; a doctor
visits once a month. The other two drop-in centres operate in similar
fashion.
Of the $30,000 in existing municipal funding, the St. James and Plateau
centres receive $15,000 each. The Denise Masse centre no longer receives
municipal funding. The $15,000 cut represents 9 per cent of the St. James
centre's budget. The provincial health board provides the other 91 per
cent.
Staff Cuts Seen
"The cut means we're going to have to cut down on the number of people
working with our clientle," said Jack Keenan, a trustee of St. James church
and a member of the drop-in centre's board of directors.
In Peter McGill ward, the Grey Nuns on Guy St., who have cast the deciding
votes for local city councillor in each of the last three municipal
elections, have asked local candidates seeking their support in this
election what they intend to do to help the homeless downtown. Gerry
Weiner, the local Vision Montreal candidate in Peter McGill, could not be
reached for comment yesterday.
Jean Lamarre, the local candidate for Jean Dore's Team Montreal, said the
decision to cut funding of the drop-in centres is petty.
"Well, $15,000 is a drop in the bucket for the city, which has a budget of
$1.9 billion," he said.
Kowaluk, a former co-ordinator of the St. James centre, said: "I think
hospitalization of the mentally ill is a provincial responsibility, of
course. But what happens on the streets of Montreal is a concern of the
city. Cities can take responsibility for all kinds of things, if they want
to.
END FORWARD
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
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http://www.montrealgazette.com:80/PAGES/981028/1970604.html
FWD Montreal Gazette - Oct 28, 1998
<paraindent><param>right,left</param>CITY CUTS FUNDING TO DROP-IN
CDNTERS
By David Johnston, The Gazette
</paraindent>
The Bourque adminstration, apparently coasting to an election victory
on Sunday, has decided to cut city funding for three inner-city
drop-in centres for the homeless and mentally ill.
The decision came under heavy criticism yesterday from candidates for
the three parties running behind mayor Pierre Bourque's Vision Montreal
party in the polls.
"It's terrible," said Louise Boyne, a candidate in the western downtown
ward of Peter McGill.
"It's immoral," said Lucia Kowaluk, the co-lister candidate of the
Montreal Citizens' Movement in the east-downtown district of Jeanne
Mance, currently represented by MCM mayoral candidate Michel Prescott.
At a press conference yesterday at St. James United Church on Ste.
Catherine St. W., representatives of the three drop-in centres said the
municipal funding pullout will result in fewer services for the
homeless and mentally ill.
The three centres are the St. James Drop-In Centre, situated on church
property, the Amis du Plateau Mount-Royal on Papineau Ave. and the
Centre de Soir Denise Masse on Amherst St. The three centres used to
receive $105,000 in municipal funding. They currently receive $30,000,
and have been told all funding will end next April.
Health Board's Responsibility
The explanation from the city is that mental health is a provincial
jurisdiction.
"It's the responsibility of the regional provincial health board," said
Michaeli Cantero, an official of the city's executive committee.
Isabelle Leduc, co-ordinator of the St. James centre, said she met last
month with two bureaucrats in the city department of sports, recreation
and social development to protest against the cuts, and was told that
the some members of the executive committee strongly believe it isn't
the city's role to help the mentally ill.
The St. James centre, open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., sees 75 homeless people a
day. It provides late-afternoon suppers for an average 40 people a day.
Three-quarters of its clientele are schizophrenics. The centre employs
a staff of five, including three social workers and two security
guards. Among other things, the social workers make sure clients are
taking their medication as prescribed. A psychiatric nurse visits once
a week; a doctor visits once a month. The other two drop-in centres
operate in similar fashion.
Of the $30,000 in existing municipal funding, the St. James and Plateau
centres receive $15,000 each. The Denise Masse centre no longer
receives municipal funding. The $15,000 cut represents 9 per cent of
the St. James centre's budget. The provincial health board provides the
other 91 per cent.
Staff Cuts Seen
"The cut means we're going to have to cut down on the number of people
working with our clientle," said Jack Keenan, a trustee of St. James
church and a member of the drop-in centre's board of directors.
In Peter McGill ward, the Grey Nuns on Guy St., who have cast the
deciding votes for local city councillor in each of the last three
municipal elections, have asked local candidates seeking their support
in this election what they intend to do to help the homeless downtown.
Gerry Weiner, the local Vision Montreal candidate in Peter McGill,
could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Jean Lamarre, the local candidate for Jean Dore's Team Montreal, said
the decision to cut funding of the drop-in centres is petty.
"Well, $15,000 is a drop in the bucket for the city, which has a budget
of $1.9 billion," he said.
Kowaluk, a former co-ordinator of the St. James centre, said: "I think
hospitalization of the mentally ill is a provincial responsibility, of
course. But what happens on the streets of Montreal is a concern of the
city. Cities can take responsibility for all kinds of things, if they
want to.
END FORWARD
** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. **
HOMELESS PEOPLE'S NETWORK <<http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/> Home Page
ARCHIVES <<http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/archives.html> read posts to HPN
TO JOIN <<http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/join.html> or email Tom <<wgcp@earthlink.net>
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