Legault Says Anyone Could Claim They're Homeless If There Were A Curfew Ticket Exemption

Premier François Legault has now said on multiple occasions that he expects the province's homeless population to be inside after 8 p.m. during Quebec's month-long curfew.

And even after the tragic passing of Raphael André, a houseless Innu man who died while being outside during curfew hours in Montreal on the night of January 16, Legault is still standing by this decision.

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You have to understand that if we put in the law that a homeless person cannot get a ticket, well then anyone could say "I'm homeless."

Premier François Legault

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante has reportedly requested that the provincial government make a curfew ticket exemption for homeless Quebecers, saying "I want people to feel safe in Montreal. I don't want to exacerbate their vulnerability."

When asked about the matter during a press conference on January 19, Premier Legault said homeless people cannot be exempt from getting tickets during curfew hours because he thinks just anyone could then claim they're homeless if stopped by a police officer between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.

"I am very confident in our police ... they do an extraordinary job," Legault pronounced. 

The Premier said from what he knows, the shelter which Raphael André typically went to during the night, The Open Door, was closed because of a COVID-19 breakout.

In a Facebook post, the shelter wrote, "[Raphael] was often the last person out since we've been required to close at 9:30 pm and would have definitely stayed if we were allowed to remain open 24/7, as we were before [...] instead, he tragically passed away in a portable toilet."

"This needs to change."