Homeless people who camp on land belonging to the Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ), in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of Montreal, will be able to stay there for at least two weeks, a Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday.
Around ten campers, who had received an eviction notice from the MTQ two weeks ago, contested it in court, thanks to the Traveling Legal Clinic.
The notice gave them until Monday to vacate the premises. “We urgently went before a Superior Court judge Monday morning and we obtained a 72-hour safeguard order to prevent their eviction,” explains the director of the clinic, Mr.e Donald Tremblay.
On Wednesday, they were back at the courthouse to ask for the deadline to be extended, which they were granted, until November 6, by Judge David E. Roberge.
Request from the district
It was the district of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve which ordered the MTQ to dismantle the encampment. In a notice dated September 21, a municipal inspector informed the MTQ that his land currently accommodates a “makeshift camp” and that “this use is not authorized in this sector” by the urban planning regulations. We also note the accumulation of waste on the site, which contravenes the nuisance regulations, giving the owner 10 days to remove everything.
At the borough, they explain that they acted following a complaint from a citizen.
“It is scandalous, in a period of homelessness and housing crisis, to hit the heads of those who are already in poverty,” protests Mr.e Donald Tremblay. Is it now City policy to clean up all encampments? »
It’s all well and good to oust them, but they have nowhere to go.
Me Donald Tremblay, director of the Traveling Legal Clinic
The Bennett Shelter of the CAP St-Barnabé organization, which is located in the area, refuses an average of 20 homeless people per day, testifies its coordinator, Catherine Lesage, in an affidavit submitted to the court.
At the camp site on Wednesday, representatives of The Press were able to observe, next to an abandoned brick building, a few tents scattered among heterogeneous piles of objects of all kinds: gutted furniture, kitchen equipment, torn clothes, empty food packaging, etc.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The camp is adjacent to an abandoned building.
A person who was in a tent refused to answer our questions.
Cockroaches and bedbugs
The Traveling Legal Clinic collected testimonies from some campers, in sworn statements.
Thus, a 53-year-old man, who had already worked in the construction field, explains that he found himself receiving social assistance following an injury preventing him from returning to construction sites. He lived in a rooming house in the neighborhood, but left it a year ago because it was infested with cockroaches and bedbugs. He tried several times to get a place in a shelter, but was always refused due to a lack of places, he says.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
The camp is located near a cycle path.
“Since October 10, 2022, no one from the government, the CLSC, the CIUSSS or any other organization has come to offer me help in finding housing,” he reveals, adding that workers from However, the street regularly comes to check if the campers are well.
“I would love to have subsidized housing, but I need help with this process. Last year, I started the process, but quickly became discouraged by the extent of the administrative steps to undertake. »
Another camper, aged 54, who had a job as a butcher, explains having been evicted from his rooming house. Because he was working, he couldn’t get to a shelter early enough in the day to get a spot, leading him to live in his tent since last July.
Intellectual disability
A couple, whose wife is under guardianship and the man lives with an intellectual disability, also testifies to having nowhere to go since his expulsion from a rooming house last July.
The 46-year-old woman explains that she suffers from agoraphobia, which prevents her from visiting homeless shelters. His 42-year-old partner called 211 and 311, as the eviction notice suggested to campers, but no one was able to direct him to a resource that could help him find accommodation.
“Supporting people experiencing homelessness to appropriate resources is not an option, it is a moral responsibility. Although the borough is required to enforce zoning regulations, we still hope that the landowner of land where homeless people have settled will show humanity and compassion in carrying out the zoning regulations. its responsibilities,” reacted Pierre Lessard-Blais, mayor of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, in a written statement.
The MTQ did not respond to our requests.
This is the second time in a year that Quebec has found itself in court to defend its decision to evict campers from its grounds. Last June, homeless people who had settled under the Ville-Marie highway, near downtown Montreal, had to leave their tents, after having obtained several delays thanks to a legal challenge.
Four of them now have an apartment, while six others have taken the administrative steps to obtain subsidized housing. In the meantime, the MTQ pays to accommodate them in a motel, indicates Me Tremblay.