“It's not humane,” says Minister Carmant about the use of the song “Baby Shark”

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press Minister responsible for Social Services Lionel Carmant

Thomas Laberge – The Canadian Press

Published yesterday at 11:49 a.m.

• Quebec

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The Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, denounces the use of the song “Baby Shark” by the Complexe Desjardins in Montreal to scare away the homeless.

“It's not humane and it's not the right way (to do it),” he said in a press scrum at the National Assembly on Friday.

“I'm here to take care of the homeless,” the minister added.

But Lionel Carmant did not have a specific request to make to the Complexe Desjardins. “The community has to come together to take care of people,” he said instead.

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• Complexe Desjardins broadcasts “Baby Shark” to keep the homeless away

The shopping centre in downtown Montreal is being criticized for using the popular children's song “Baby Shark” to discourage homeless people from loitering on the stairs of the fire exits.

Complexe Desjardins has been playing music in the stairwells for the past year to address “safety issues” involving homeless people, spokesperson Jean-Benoît Turcotti said Thursday.