Hydro-Québec cut power to hundreds in Pointe-Claire, Que., seniors' home during heat wave

Hundreds of people on Montreal's West Island, including those living in a seniors' home, were without air conditioning for more than six hours on the second day of a scorching heat wave after Hydro-Québec refused to cancel a scheduled power outage for maintenance work.

Highs are set to hit 34 C Wednesday, with humidity making it feel as hot as 44 C.

But as of 7 a.m., despite pleas from residents to postpone, Hydro-Québec cut off power for more than 1,600 clients in Pointe-Claire in order to replace some of its infrastructure in the area.

Power was restored shortly after 1 p.m.

The public utility says it often cancels smaller jobs when there is a heat wave, but it had no choice but to proceed today because of the complexity of the work.

"The project is absolutely crucial to make sure that people in the area don't have a longer power outage," said Hydro-Québec spokesperson Gabrielle LeBlanc on CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

She said the project also required a lot of co-ordination between multiple teams, which made it hard to postpone.

Acknowledging that it's hard to live without air conditioning during a heat wave, Leblanc said Hydro-Québec moved up the start time of its maintenance work and brought in more teams to help complete it before the heat reached its peak.

Senior residents shuttled to air-conditioned malls

In a statement Wednesday morning, the Chartwell Le Wellesley retirement home, which has 157 units, told CBC News the well-being of its residents is a top priority. It said it is applying its usual protocol in the case of a heat wave, including distributing cold water.

"In addition, we will provide shuttle buses to an air-conditioned shopping mall to ensure all residents have a comfortable and safe place to go during this period," the statement reads.

The home said it was in discussion with Hydro-Québec to help minimize the impact of the outage on residents.

Voula Kollias, general manager of the seniors' home, said the most important thing with seniors is ensure preparedness because they are vulnerable. She said the home has been working to communicate the situation to residents in the days leading up to the outage.

She said many residents were nervous. During the outage, she said staff made the rounds to check on everybody. However, she would have liked to see more help provided, such as an emergency generator brought in to keep the power on.

Resident Pamela Hellstrom said everything at the home ran like a well-oiled machine. She took the shuttle to various shopping destinations, and she said she was looking forward to the home's lobster dinner planned for the evening.

Among those who were nervous before the outage was Rosalyn Beaudoin, an 80-year-old living in a condo near the home.

"There are a lot of seniors in this building and in this neighbourhood … people that are sick, people that can barely walk," she said.

"It doesn't seem right that they should have to live through that."

Beaudoin said she'd gotten prepared for the outage by blasting the air conditioning and preparing to drink lots of water. Still, she said the older population should be a priority.

"Considering the high rate of seniors that we lost during pandemic, I find it insulting to say the least how little regard is given to our senior community by our government," she said.

In times of sweltering heat, children younger than four and seniors are among the most vulnerable. The city of Montreal recommends people drink plenty of water, find a place with air conditioning and be on guard for symptoms of heat-related illnesses.