Intense cold snap: More than a hundred homeless people on the Guertin site are desperate to warm up properly

Mélissa Gélinas

The cold snap of the last few weeks and days has been felt throughout the region. This temperature, although unpleasant, is a whole different story for homeless people who are outside on the Guertin site.

Many of them live in tents or shelters, and it is very difficult for them to warm up properly when the mercury drops so drastically. “I think it was       -32°C one morning recently and it just doesn’t feel right to be in a tent,” said Annie Castonguay, coordinator of the Guertin site and Sanscartier Park heat stations.

However, it is very difficult for them to rest in the heat station due to the crowds and the lack of beds. “People sleep either on the floor or on picnic tables,” says Castonguay. “Per shift, I can receive between 80 and 120 visits to the Guertin heat station.”

The result: people become more and more irritable, and this leads to conflicts that the workers must manage.

Consequently, on December 20, Castonguay made a request to the City of Gatineau and the CISSSO to obtain about 15 camp beds and a second heated trailer. According to the information gathered, the CISSSO was open to the request. However, no response was received from the city. “We realized that Steve Moran was not aware,” Castonguay said. “Yesterday, after sending him the request, Moran said he would look at the file.” (It should be noted that Steve Moran is also the homelessness commissioner.)

On a more positive note, some elected officials finally agreed to dip into their discretionary budgets to help alleviate the situation.

As for the population, they were also very generous. “There are people who come back every two or three days to bring things,” Castonguay stated. “We also had the MNA for Hull, Suzanne Tremblay, who made a lot of purchases for the homeless,” she continued.

In addition, the Patate Lou Lou company, located on Eardley Road in Aylmer, notably showed great generosity by offering the homeless at the Guertin site about 50 homemade meals each week for a period of eight weeks.

For those who wish to bring donations in the form of food or items, simply go directly to the heat stops at the Guertin site, which is open 24 hours a day, or to Sanscartier Park, which is open from 4 pm to 8 am. “We would need juice, bottles of water, snacks, socks, warm clothing and blankets,” said Castonguay.