The Maison Benoît Labre homeless shelter is at the centre of a growing debate in St-Henri. Two groups of demonstrators gathered Tuesday at the shelter; one group is calling for the shelter to move or close, while another is pushing back. Demonstrators pushing back against calls to move or close the shelter said the focus should be on the lack of housing and services. “Benoît Labre did not cause homelessness in Saint-Henri to explode,” said Alex Berthelot, spokesperson for Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal. “The people Benoît Labre serves were always in this neighborhood. A lot of them actually went to the school across the street when they were kids.” Craig Sauvé, Transition Montréal leader, echoes Berthelot’s sentiments. “We should all be together as one community saying, ‘hey, governments, let’s invest more and make sure everybody has a home. Let’s make sure everybody has services and has access to everything they need to live a decent, organized life, as any Canadian or Montrealer deserves,’” he said. However, others who want the shelter relocated or closed say they are worried about safety because the shelter is next to an elementary school across from Atmater Market, citing an increase in visible drug use. “We’d like to be listened to because, so far in the last three years, we have not been listened to. We’ve been dismissed. We’ve been called nimbys. We’ve been intimidated,” said St-Henri resident Andre Lambert. St-Henri merchant and landlord Herman Alves said the situation has reached a breaking point and wants the shelter relocated. “They think we’re against homelessness. We’re not, you know, we want to help, but it’s just that the problem is that, you know, the politicians made a bad decision,” Alves said. Maison Benoît Labre said it understands concerns and is working with community partners and authorities to coexist in the neighbourhood. However, it said demand for its services continues to outpace capacity, stating that one in two people who seek help is turned away because there aren’t enough resources. The city says it’s continuing to work on solutions to restore peace in the neighbourhood. With files from CTV News’ Laurence Brisson Dubreuil
