A mother’s heart-wrenching testimony was heard at a Quebec inquest as she struggled to understand how her son could have died in the cold.
The inquest, which began on Monday, is examining the deaths of two homeless men, Raphaël André and Pierre Coriolan, who both died in separate incidents in Montreal in 2017.
During the hearing, André’s mother, Suzanne Desrosiers, took the stand and shared her disbelief and pain over her son’s death.
“I can’t fathom how my son could have died in the cold,” Desrosiers said, her voice trembling with emotion.
André, 51, was found dead in a portable toilet in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood on Jan. 15, 2017. The temperature that night was -20 C with the wind chill.
Desrosiers described her son as a kind and loving person who struggled with mental health issues and addiction. She said he had been living on the streets for several years and had been in and out of shelters.
She also expressed her frustration with the lack of resources and support for homeless individuals in Montreal.
“I feel like my son was abandoned by society,” Desrosiers said. “He deserved better.”
The inquest heard that André had been turned away from a shelter on the night of his death because he was intoxicated. He was also denied entry to a warming centre because he did not have a bedroll.
Desrosiers said she believes her son’s death could have been prevented if there had been more resources available to help him.
“I don’t want any other mother to go through what I have gone through,” she said.
The inquest is expected to continue for several weeks and will examine the circumstances surrounding the deaths of both André and Coriolan.
Coriolan, 58, was shot and killed by police in his apartment on June 27, 2017, after a standoff. The inquest will look into whether police used excessive force and if there were any failures in the mental health system that could have prevented his death.
The goal of the inquest is to make recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.
As Desrosiers left the courtroom, she urged the government to take action and provide better support for homeless individuals.
“I hope that my son’s death will not be in vain,” she said. “Something needs to change.”
