Montreal 2SLGBTQ+ support organization cutting overnight services

Interligne, the Montreal-based organization supporting Canada’s 2SLGBTQ+ community, will be cutting the cord for their overnight hotline services by the end of March due to a lack of government funding, as they struggle to maintain operation and provide better benefits and salaries for its employees.

“We’re going to be losing lives just because that line is not there,” said Amalan Thiyagarajah, a board member of Interligne.

“We really need to be able to compensate our employees and definitely give them a quality work environment and to compensate them accurately for the work that they do.”

Pascal Vaillancourt, the general director of Interligne says, “We often hear the government saying that if Interligne disappears, 811 will be the one to respond. That’s not true, it doesn’t work that way. Most of the time, 811 refers to Interligne.”

Adding, “For people who work in more generalist helplines, it’s harder to understand the challenges within the LGBTQ community. It’s hard to provide the appropriate intervention.”

The hotline service at Interligne has run 24/7 for the last seven years and has received more than 30,000 calls since 2021 – a quarter coming between midnight to 8 a.m.

According to Vaillancourt, the City of Montreal provided sufficient grants to start the overnight services in 2016, but the grants slowly dropped under Valerie Plante’s administration – making it difficult to sustain the overnight hotline.

“It’s usually the more intense calls, more difficult when it comes to emotional and psychological distress. We get a lot of suicidal calls that happen more at night,” Vaillancourt explained.

“I think of other help lines for suicide intervention, youth counseling too. They get around $800,000-900,000. Interligne receives $300,000 from the government.”

Quebec Liberal Party’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community spokesperson Jennifer Maccarone introduced a motion to support Interligne’s overnight services with the funding necessary. The CAQ government rejected the motion on February 21. According to Maccarone, the decision is a step back in Quebec’s fight against homophobia and that Interligne be given the same budgeting considerations as any other organizations providing mental health support.

“We need recurring funding to be able to secure this service,” says Amalan Thiyagarajah, a board member at Interligne, on the need for more government funding to keep the organization’s overnight hotline services. (Photo Credit: Kwunkeyi Isichei, CityNews)

“It is sending a message, that’s the way we perceive it at least, that they don’t care about us. And it’s a whole community gets this feeling of being neglected or not taken care of,” said Thiyagarajah.

“When we’re talking about mental health services, especially these days, the LGBTQ community remains overrepresented within the mental health issues.”

Thiyagarajah adds those working for Interligne care about the 2SLGBTQ+ community and hire trained professionals who understands the realities of being a person from the community.

“They really believe in that mission and they’re trying to give every little bit that they can to be able to create a better society. And sometimes all that means is just having a near to listen to, right?”

If you or anyone you know from the 2SLGBTQ+ community require mental health support, contact Interligne at 1-888-505-1010 or the suicide prevention help line at 1‑866‑277‑3553.