Anti-homeless 'spikes' cause controversy in Montreal
Businesses, municipalities and individuals across North America and Europe are focused on making the homeless move along, and they've come up with a range of ways to do so.
Yesterday Montreal's Mayor was disturbed to find a downtown building had installed big metal studs on a sidewalk ledge near its entrance. But this isn't the only recent case where tactics have been used to keep homeless people from using public space.
Mayor Denis Coderre was sure the spikes were meant to deter the homeless, and almost immediately after he spoke, they were removed.
What about human beings? What about dignity?...The reason why they have that is because they don't want anyone to sit there. And we know who is sitting there.Mayor Denis Coderre
But businesses, municipalities and individuals across North America and Europe are focused on making the homeless move along, and they've come up with a range of ways to do so.
- Robert Marbut is a U.S.-based consultant who works with cities and towns to help reduce homelessness. We reached him in Daytona Beach, Florida.
- DJ Larkin is a lawyer representing the residents of the former Jubilee Park Camp in Abbotsford, B.C.
- Michael Shapcott is the Director of Affordable Housing and Social Innovation at the Wellesley Institute in Toronto.
What you think is needed to tackle homelessness? And what do you see in your community?
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This segment was produced by The Current's Catherine Kalbfleisch, Dawna Dingwall and Naheed Mustafa.