Several towns find themselves in the same situation as Granby in this regard. I think the nature of homelessness has changed recently. Previously, people might have headed for the major cities. Now, they try to stay closer to their local community. I think we need to maintain this flexibility and adapt to changing circumstances.
Generally speaking, organizations that receive funding under the Reaching Home program or Quebec's interdepartmental action plan on homelessness are being held accountable. Strangely enough, no one ever has any complaints, so I think the money is well spent. Sometimes, however, it isn't spent where we'd like it to be, or on the services we'd like to see.
Therefore, there is often a need for the flexibility to recognize that, for example, in a slightly more rural area, outreach workers need to travel further and reach out to people who are scattered across a larger area. These people sometimes need services that aren't available locally. So, we need to be able to take money from certain budgets and allocate it elsewhere. If there is too much compartmentalization, we end up with money that cannot be spent. It might be allocated, for example, to the construction of a shelter even though the town already has one, when what we really want is to provide direct support on the ground.
I'll quickly draw a parallel. We may well have money and think it's a good idea to invest it in Sherbrooke, Granby or some other place, but we need to look at the bigger picture. We can't build a bridge in a location chosen simply on the basis of how many people swim across the water. At some point, we have to realize that services need to be well distributed and that people will try to find out what is available.
As things stand, in 2021 or 2022, several communities were not selected. However, it is now 2026, and the situation has changed. Programs must therefore adapt so that they can provide services where they are needed.