Homeless man’s death prompts calls for more warming centres in Montreal

A Quebec coroner will investigate the death of a 55-year-old unhoused man found in a park early Sunday in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

Police say hypothermia could be the cause of the man’s death, after he was found unresponsive at a public square in the city’s east end.

The man was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Borough Mayor Pierre Lessard-Blais called the death “an avoidable and sadly predictable tragedy,” adding that it demonstrates the need for a provincewide plan to address homelessness.

Trending Now

In a social media post, the borough mayor says the premier has said the worst of the homeless crisis is over, but Lessard-Blais disagrees.

Lessard-Blais says that without more emergency shelters and warming centres there will be more deaths of unhoused people as winter sets in.