Hundreds march in support of Montreal's homeless

Hundreds of people gathered at Place milie Gamelinand wound through the streets ofdowntown for the annual March of the Homeless Friday night.

The 26th walk aims to raise awareness of the problems dogging Montreal's homeless population and how they're not being adequately addressed, organizers say.

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"For many years in Montreal, the situation has beengetting worse," saidPierre Gaudreau,coordinator of RAPSIM, which works with the homeless. "Thesituation people are living in is getting worse."

Winter hasn't even arrived and the city's homeless shelters are already at capacity, he told CBC's Homerun. He added that women's shelters across the city are over-capacity.

The organization hasbeen clamouring for a multi-pronged approach to homelessness, to deal with issues includinghousing, health services, anddrug addiction.

"We don't see action on this," Gaudreau said.

The march stopped at different homeless organizations and returned to its starting point for a vigil attended byMontreal mayor Denis Coderre,Quebec SolidaireMNA Manon Mass, and provincial rehabilitation minister Lucie Charlebois.

Absent from the crowd were federal politicians, which organizers want to target during the election campaign.

"We have been demanding thefederal government to get back to a global approach to homelessness,"Gaudreau said. "But with theTories, funding has been directed to one approach: housing. That can't work for everybody."

On top of the annual march,RAPSIM and the art collective ATSA will host anevent calledLe Temps d'une soupe time for a soup where people are invited to sit with a stranger over a soup to talk about homelessness.

Theevent runs untilOct. 18 atPlacemilieGamelin.