Roger-Luc Chayer
Once again, the Gay Village of Montreal was the object of an infamous act of vandalism, this time directed towards the brand new Bourbon condos building, located on rue Ste-Catherine Est, between rue Alexandre-de- Sève and Champlain.
On the night of April 24 to 25, individuals began to dig up the uni-stone newly installed by the promoter, tearing part of the asphalt from the perimeter while they were there, to violently throw them onto a large commercial showcase of the facade of the building.
(Paving stone torn from the ground at the corner
of the building)
A free gesture against a building whose premises were all empty, so we can not say that the vandals had against one of the traders! But what is it that makes people want to continuously destroy the Gay Village?
Two theories can explain these gestures. Since the start of the pandemic, the Village has become a mobile garage, thanks to the complicity of the mayoress of the City and of the Ville-Marie borough, Ms. Valérie Plante. Admittedly, the Village already had a hell of a problem with these homeless people and other heavily represented social cases, but when Madame Plante decided to regroup all the cases of Montreal, all the campers from the slums of rue Notre-Dame and others in one place. , the Place Dupuis hotel, she could not ignore that the troubles were going to multiply, and this is indeed what one can observe when walking, when possible, between St-Hubert and Papineau. When you ask the mayoress or the person in charge of the sector, Councilor Robert Beaudry, no answer! However, the Village Development Company had asked the mayor to do something last year with this influx of social unrest that was affecting the few businesses still open and the safety of residents, nothing to do!
Another plausible explanation for what happened is the “anti-embour-geoisement” movement, more popular in Hochelaga, but which seems to be getting closer to the Village. Far from me to accuse the followers of « voluntary impoverishment », there is no evidence that they could be behind this vandalism, but many are wondering. Could anyone other than the Plante \ Beaudry duo have any ideas, and solutions? Roll on the elections in November 2021 …