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A tent city that’s cropped up behind Gatineau’s adult short-term shelter has its homeless residents, city officials and the shelter at odds over a solution.
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin told reporters he’s worried mainly about possible violence at the site, behind the 55-bed Le Gite Ami near the Robert Guertin Centre.
At first the city took a wait-and-see approach, he said, hoping this could remain a low-key and unforeseen pilot project where life was peaceful.
Now he says the camp has grown more than expected, and a different group of people has moved in. There are more drugs and more violence now.
“The moment we find out that there is a level of violence that’s worrisome, we have to intervene. We can’t just leave it alone,” he said at a scrum with reporters on Wednesday.
The lack of sanitation in the camp is another issue.
The city’s own staff has recommended that if the “dangerous” situation doesn’t improve, the tent city should go, he said.
“We don’t want to do that, but at the same time we do have responsibilities, and if there are citizens in danger we have to end the situation,” he said.
He called homelessness one of the most complex issues that cities face, one that can’t be fixed by police or social services alone. And in this case, there’s a danger that taking down tents on one site just drives the problem somewhere else.
“I would rather find another solution rather than to close it (the tent city).”
The city will hold a closed meeting at 1:30 p.m. with officials as well as certain interested organizations, such as Le Gite Ami.
Luc Villemaire, the director of the shelter, says he will attend and hopes to find a long-term solution.
“It’s a problem for us,” he says of the campers who use the shelter’s facilities, though it is only equipped to house 55 people. “This is just a respite for emergency situations.”
sallen@ottawacitizen.com
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
In a press conference Wednesday morning, Gatineau Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin told reporters he’s worried mainly about possible violence at the site, behind the 55-bed Le Gite Ami near the Robert Guertin Centre.
At first the city took a wait-and-see approach, he said, hoping this could remain a low-key and unforeseen pilot project where life was peaceful.
Now he says the camp has grown more than expected, and a different group of people has moved in. There are more drugs and more violence now.
“The moment we find out that there is a level of violence that’s worrisome, we have to intervene. We can’t just leave it alone,” he said at a scrum with reporters on Wednesday.
The lack of sanitation in the camp is another issue.
The city’s own staff has recommended that if the “dangerous” situation doesn’t improve, the tent city should go, he said.
“We don’t want to do that, but at the same time we do have responsibilities, and if there are citizens in danger we have to end the situation,” he said.
He called homelessness one of the most complex issues that cities face, one that can’t be fixed by police or social services alone. And in this case, there’s a danger that taking down tents on one site just drives the problem somewhere else.
“I would rather find another solution rather than to close it (the tent city).”
The city will hold a closed meeting at 1:30 p.m. with officials as well as certain interested organizations, such as Le Gite Ami.
Luc Villemaire, the director of the shelter, says he will attend and hopes to find a long-term solution.
“It’s a problem for us,” he says of the campers who use the shelter’s facilities, though it is only equipped to house 55 people. “This is just a respite for emergency situations.”
sallen@ottawacitizen.com
tspears@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
