2023-11-15 00:30:00
The Quebec government let asylum seekers wait daily for months outside in a gigantic queue in front of one of its offices, before finding a solution in a few hours when The newspaper was interested in the file.
“With today’s cold, waiting four hours outside is still difficult,” whispered Bebeto Lonsili.
He waited all this time in front of the Services Québec offices on Notre-Dame Street with his cousin on Monday when it was -2°C. The woman, who arrived from Burkina Faso a month ago to request asylum, was coming to follow up on her request for social assistance from the provincial government.
Every day for months, there were dozens, even hundreds, waiting like her in a huge line often lasting more than 100 meters on the sidewalks that go around the Old Montreal building, according to what merchants said. neighbors to Journal.
Dozens of asylum seekers had to wait outside for hours on Monday, when it was -2°C, in front of the Quebec service offices on Notre-Dame Street in Montreal. Photo Olivier Faucher
“The line is getting longer”
“This management is a problem for everyone. Waiting conditions are very difficult. […] The line has been getting longer for several months,” said Arthur Fouasson of Gestion Georges Coulombe, the company managing the building.
Under cover of anonymity, a trader deplored this “inhumane” treatment, while the temperature has been close to freezing for several weeks. For example, he says he allowed a pregnant woman to sit on one of his chairs following she used his toilet a few weeks ago.
“I waited two hours, but there were a lot of people. It’s a little slow. The cold is the climate!” declared Jean Letang, an asylum seeker from Haiti, in an optimistic tone. He had to leave the long line Monday to go to work without getting the explanations he wanted on a government document received by mail.
Jean Letang, a 49-year-old asylum seeker from Haiti who gave up following waiting in line for two hours. Photo Olivier Faucher
Miraculously disappeared
The newspaper sent questions to the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity on Monday followingnoon regarding this interminable wait in the cold in front of his office.
The Services Québec offices on Notre-Dame Street Photo Olivier Faucher
However, on Tuesday morning, there was miraculously no longer a line outside, a first in months according to a neighboring merchant.
The ministry responded by email on Tuesday that it had opened a mezzanine “as of November 14, 2023, thus increasing the customer reception capacity inside the building.”
“Within two weeks, work to reorganize the self-service rooms will also be carried out to accommodate more customers,” said spokesperson Catherine Poulin.
Massive arrival of applicants
According to the Public and Parapublic Service Union of Quebec (SFPQ), between 200 and 250 people per day present themselves at these offices, a significant influx which is not unrelated to the significant influx of asylum seekers during the recent months (see other text).
However, it also results from an issue of dissemination of information to this clientele, because they can submit an application for social assistance at any Services Québec office, according to the government.
The ministry also said it was doing “increased promotion” of other offices to customers, in addition to redirecting them to other points of service.
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