An "ombudsman for the homeless" now there's an idea for #Yellowknife! @CJAD800

An "ombudsman for the homeless" now there's an idea for Yellowknife!

"...just over 3000 homeless people in Montreal.." in percentage/per capita, I wonder how that compares with Yellowknife eh?

"...Serge Lareault will be the voice of the city's over three thousand homeless people, identify their needs and create strategies to meet them, acting as a consultant, policy maker and a liaison for the city.

Lareault has been working on homelessness issues for the past 20 years - he headed up the community group L'itinéraire which also publishes the magazine of the same name. [...] Lareault said among his goals is to educate people about the homeless and to train city workers including police on how to deal with them.

"It's sure that in a city like Montreal, the relations are really not good. It's important to develop a vision at the SPVM to be sure that they are there to help the homeless and not to arrest them," said Lareault.

Pierre Gaudreau, coordinator for the RAPSIM homeless advocacy group, said it's a good step towards solving the myriad issues facing those living on the street.

"It's complementary with the action of the city services," said Gaudreau.

The city's goal is to reduce the number of its homeless by two-thirds by 2020. Its most recent figures showed just over 3000 homeless people in Montreal...."
http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news-community/2016/04/18/montreals-new-ombudsman-for-the-homeless-has-big-job-ahead

George Lessard
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
http://mediamentor.ca