Enough action? Not enough action? The Plante administration defended its efforts to revitalize the Village on Thursday as the opposition announced its own bailout.
The sector has been in the spotlight since the start of the pandemic, but the situation has deteriorated further in recent months, according to the local traders’ association. The presence of homeless people and vacant premises is very important.
Robert Beaudry, head of urban planning in the Plante administration, announced Thursday the creation of an “intergovernmental crisis unit” to help the neighborhood. The City of Montreal, the health network and the police will be there in particular.
“If there was a magic wand to save the village, we would know it and the measures would have already been put in place”, argued Robert Beaudry, who calls for patience. The elected official added that police officers from local neighborhood stations would be more present in the area and that a patrol from the Mobile Mediation Team in Social Intervention (ÉMMIS) would be dedicated to the Berri-UQAM sector seven days a week.
Mr. Beaudry was reacting to an opposition outing at Montreal City Hall, which presented its “recovery plan” for the Village on Thursday. They are asking for more police, more cleaning teams, more public toilets and more ashtrays.
The opposition is also calling for the return of patrols carried out by the health network in the streets of the Village.
“It breaks my heart to say this, but the Village – once a must-see for Montrealers, a must-see for tourists – is now a place of desolation that allows you to see the daily human misery,” lamented the head of the opposition Aref Salem. “While the patient is dying, the doctors look at each other without flinching and wonder who is going to operate. »
Mr. Salem argued that the Plante administration should stop blaming Quebec and Ottawa. “Our village deserves much more pride,” he said.
