Most of us know (and hate) the popular kids’ song, Baby Shark—the one that plays the same lyrics on a loop for what feels like hours, inevitably getting stuck in your head.
Now, the shopping center in downtown Montreal called Complexe Desjardins (owned by financial services company Desjardins) is using the dreaded earworm to deter homeless people—an act that’s causing outrage.
Quoted as a solution to “security issues,” this tactic—which involves playing the song over and over at various speeds—allegedly led to an “improvement” over the past year, Complexe Desjardins’ spokesperson Jean-Benoit Turcotti told Canadian website CBC.
However, others view Baby Shark as a “cruel and unusual” response to the problem of homelessness—far from an actual solution, said Sam Watts, CEO of Welcome Hall Mission and advocate for unhoused individuals.
“It isn’t possible to resolve the complexities of homelessness by using juvenile tactics that are conceived to exclude people,” Watts said, per CBC. “You don’t solve a problem by displacing a problem … The answer isn’t to do things that are going to further make people who are vulnerable even more vulnerable.”
Turcotti, on the other hand, claims Desjardins employs social workers who “ensure a dialogue” with unhoused individuals in the area. Their aim is “not to coerce, but to support these people,” he said.
However, many feel that pushing vulnerable people away—especially by purposefully irritating them—without any proper solution to the core issue is just flat-out callous. With a lack of shelter options throughout Montreal, unhoused individuals simply have nowhere else to go to feel safe.
“In the last 10 years in Canada, there’s been a movement away from funding homeless day shelters and night shelters and we’re beginning to see the consequences of that,” David Chapman, executive director of the shelter Resilience Montreal, told CBC.
The post Canadian Mall Has Been Blaring ‘Baby Shark’ for a Year to Keep Homeless People Away appeared first on VICE.
The post Canadian Mall Has Been Blaring ‘Baby Shark’ for a Year to Keep Homeless People Away appeared first on VICE.
