Several Montrealers who were evicted from their homes found themselves, through a combination of circumstances, helping each other to survive in a camp that took shape under an overpass on Sainte-Catherine Street East, in the Ville-Marie borough. However, they took down their tent on Tuesday morning, under threat of dismantling by the City.
When passing the Dutyfour tents were still in place at the site of this improvised camp which welcomed around ten residents in recent months, as well as several homeless people who went there occasionally to warm up and have a little company.
“It’s not really my style to rely on shelters, unless it’s really an emergency,” Nathan Akindolire said in an interview. The 34-year-old man found himself homeless two years ago after his employment income suffered in the pandemic context. “I could no longer pay my rent, so I found myself on the street,” he continues.
Following the police visit last week, the man was preparing Tuesday morning to have to leave this camp where he has been staying for two months, at the request of the authorities. But like several other occupants of the site, he does not know what the future holds for him, at a time when the city’s shelters are struggling to meet demand in a context of an increase in the homeless population of nearly 49% across the country. island of Montreal, according to the latest census, conducted last year across the province.
“The shelters have been full since October,” noted in an interview the spokesperson for Ensemble Montréal on homelessness, Benoit Langevin, who has been calling for weeks for an increase in the beds available to accommodate the homeless. shelter in the metropolis.
An uncertain future
In this context, several occupants were preparing to leave the premises on Tuesday without really knowing what the future holds for them. ” I do not know at all. I have no place to go,” confides Anthony Pelletier, who found himself in this camp less than a week ago, after being evicted from his accommodation. He rejects the idea of turning to a refuge, where he fears the presence of vermin. “I prefer to live outside in the cold; There aren’t any bugs out there,” he says.
“What we have here, what we have collected, is what we have left in life. We don’t have much else left,” France sighs, before bursting into tears. She refused to give her last name to avoid precarious her already fragile situation. “I’ve been completely on the street for a year,” continues the woman, who depends on social assistance to survive. “We will manage as best we can. We’re pretty alert this morning,” she continues.
Contacted by The duty, the City of Montreal and the SPVM were not immediately able to provide details regarding the planned dismantling of this encampment. Shortly before 10 a.m., SPVM police officers arrived at the intersection near which this encampment is located, while around ten demonstrators denounced with slogans the repetitive dismantling of encampments since the start of the year in Montreal. However, the two police cars left the scene about fifteen minutes later without going to the camp site.
The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, involved in other dismantlings in recent months, has for its part been able to confirm that it is not involved in this matter, since the land in question does not belong to it.
“Counterproductive” dismantling
The community took advantage of the threat that loomed on Tuesday regarding the dismantling of this encampment in Ville-Marie to denounce the lack of tolerance of the City with regard to makeshift shelters which regularly take shape on public land, hidden from the view of most citizens.
“Dismantling is counterproductive. It takes people away from their social network, their community resources and services, in addition to possibly isolating them and creating even more instability and precariousness in their lives,” laments Émilie Roberge, who is the work coordinator, in an interview. of proximity to the Specter de rue organization. She therefore believes that makeshift camps should be tolerated by the City, until it has concrete alternatives to provide to homeless people in need. Opposition elected official Benoit Langevin also questions the “legality” of these dismantlings, in the current context of the lack of places available in shelters in the metropolis.
Organizer Jérémie Lamarche, from the Network for Assistance to Single and Homeless People in Montreal (RAPSIM), also points out that many shelters are not able to meet the specific needs of homeless people who are, for example, in couples or who have animals. “There are not enough resources for the diversity of faces that there is,” he notes.