![\"Soraya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0506-city-mayors-3651_302955964.jpg\")
\u201cWe really need to ask ourselves how we can shut off the tap\u201d of increasing homelessness, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nThe Quebec government needs to see Montreal and other municipalities as genuine partners in addressing issues like housing, homelessness and infrastructure, Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Martinez Ferrada was speaking alongside Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand at a conference organized by the Communaut\u00e9 m\u00e9tropolitaine de Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you talk about solutions to the challenges we face, whether social, economic or others, it\u2019s municipalities that will drive them,\u201d Martinez Ferrada said. \u201cAnd in those moments, we need to be at the decision-making table with the Quebec government. But, unfortunately, we often aren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a 30-minute roundtable, Martinez Ferrada and Marchand exchanged views on making cities more agile, delays in getting major projects off the ground, and the need for better long-term planning by the province.<\/p>\n
On infrastructure, Martinez Ferrada pointed to Montreal\u2019s Notre-Dame St. as a glaring example \u2014 \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about redoing it for 40 years; can we finally do it?\u201d she said \u2014 while noting how difficult it can be to move ahead with projects of that size.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s not treat cities like any other development project. We\u2019re not in competition,\u201d Martinez Ferrada said. \u201cCan I sit down with Quebec and say, \u2018Here are my priorities. Let\u2019s draw up a joint financing plan.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Marchand, for his part, expressed frustration at the challenges cities face when trying to act quickly. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to stop with these bloody calls for proposals,\u201d he said. \u201cThey take forever, they\u2019re supposed to come through but then fall short.\u00a0\u2026 We wait for a response, but it only comes a year later, all while prices keep going up. It\u2019s catastrophic for public finances.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marchand also said cities should co-operate more closely with developers to speed up construction and address the housing crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe often hear that if cities partner with developers, it means we\u2019re in bed with them. But that has nothing to do with it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need developers to build our cities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both mayors also addressed homelessness, with Marchand calling on all provincial parties in this fall\u2019s election to commit to ending the crisis across Quebec.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really need to ask ourselves how we can shut off the tap\u201d of increasing homelessness, Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Martinez Ferrada, who has made the crisis her top priority since taking office<\/a>, said it\u2019s important to frame the issue not as a scourge but rather as a humanitarian crisis that everyone has a role in solving.<\/p>\n All levels of government together have never invested as much in the issue as they do today, she said, yet the number of unhoused people keeps climbing.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t solving the problem,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we really need to ask ourselves how we can shut off the tap.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking before the two mayors, Chantal Rouleau, the provincial minister for the Montreal region, said she feels new premier Christine Fr\u00e9chette understands their concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rouleau noted Fr\u00e9chette views Montreal as a priority and wants the province to be a better partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat means not only being present, but being able to accompany, support and above all, accelerate,\u201d she added. \u201cBecause some things do take time, but we need to shorten those timelines.\u201d<\/p>\n