It is heartening to see how the wind has shifted in the teapot tempest over the establishment in downtown Villeray of a hostel for Inuit residents of Northern Quebec who come to Montreal for medical treatment they can’t get back home.
It’s to be located on lower St. Denis St. and would put to some good use the former Chinese Hospital which has stood vacant for the past decade. The reaction from the elements of the community who first spoke out about the project was vehemently not-in-my-back-yard. Shortly after the plan was a-nnounced a website titled “Danger Im minent” sprang up fervidly warning that the facility would lead to a crime surge in the neighbourhood and spawn prostitution, vandalism, and drug trafficking. Borough mayor Anie Samson, of Vision Montreal affiliation, worried out loud that it might dilute the neighbourhood’s “pure-laine francophone” character.

See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”