Only three homeless people who lived in tents under the Ville-Marie highway near downtown Montreal have been relocated to housing so far. Two organizations that help them in their efforts are asking the court to postpone their eviction until July 15 to allow them to find solutions to house eight other campers.
A Superior Court judge had previously given until June 15 to the homeless group to leave the scene, in order to allow the Ministry of Transport of Quebec (MTQ) to carry out work of 38 million under the highway.
On Tuesday, homeless representatives were back in court asking for a new delay.
The documents submitted by the organization Résilience Montréal to judge Pierre Nollet detail the situation of the inhabitants of the camp. One of them, a 58-year-old man suffering from cancer, left his tent on Monday to move into an apartment in LaSalle, thanks to the rent supplement program (PSL). A 61-year-old woman will be accommodated in a unit of the organization Le Chaînon and will also benefit from the PSL, while a 37-year-old man has agreed to settle temporarily in a dormitory at the Old Brewery Mission while waiting for accommodation with the help of the PSL.
The PSL is a program that allows beneficiaries to pay rent corresponding to 25% of their income, the rest being subsidized by the government.
Pregnant woman
A couple, whose 42-year-old wife is pregnant, should also be able to benefit from the PSL through the Old Brewery Mission, but they have not yet found a permanent or temporary apartment to live in. Six other campers, aged 44 to 69, also still have no place to stay; they are in the process of completing the necessary paperwork for their participation in the PSL. As for three other residents of the premises, they were reluctant to get help to leave their tent.
“We need time to continue the relocation process, since we can demonstrate that they are well underway,” argued Ms.e Helena Lamed, the lawyer for the Mobile Legal Clinic, who took legal action on behalf of the residents of the camp.
“Evicting the people living in the camp, without a housing solution, endangers their lives and their safety, which are rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, she adds.
According to the director of the Itinerant Legal Clinic, Donald Tremblay, the process has accelerated to find housing for the homeless following a meeting between stakeholders from the CIUSSS of the Centre-Ouest and Centre-Sud of the island. of Montreal with Resilience Montreal, on May 18th.
“But it’s difficult to find housing in the current situation of shortage, we have to support people in the steps to be taken, help them find furniture, etc.,” underlines Ms.e Tremblay.
2 million delay
According to MTQ lawyer Marie Couture-Clouâtre, delays in carrying out the work caused by the presence of homeless people result in costs of nearly $2 million for Quebec taxpayers. And this sum could still swell since the contractor in charge of the site informed the MTQ that he intended to take action because of the delays, she revealed.
Shouldn’t the government have used these funds to meet the needs of the inhabitants of the camp, asked Judge Nollet? “It’s the state that pays anyway. Even if we took 1 million to help them, the state would be a winner,” he said.
According to Me Couture-Clouâtre, it would have been unfair to give priority to housing for the homeless in the camp, when Montreal has thousands of homeless people. “The social programs exist, the resources are there, and we can find solutions when we put the necessary energy into them,” notes the lawyer, who deplored the fact that the relocation process had not been undertaken before.
“There are imminent risks and dangers on the structure, a high risk of falling concrete,” she adds, citing reports from engineers at the ministry. “If something happens, the ministry is responsible. »
It is for this reason that the government opposes the requested delay. The public interest requires that the work be carried out as quickly as possible on the aging structure, where approximately 100,000 vehicles circulate each day, indicates the lawyer.
The story so far
Early November 2022
About fifteen homeless people who pitched their tent under the Ville-Marie highway received an eviction notice from the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ), which was to undertake a major project there. The advisory was lifted on November 9, but no new date was set.
Early March 2023
Campers are ordered to vacate the premises at the end of the month. The Traveling Legal Clinic is therefore filing an application for an injunction to allow them to stay there until July 15, 2023, the time to find them permanent accommodation.
April 24, 2023
The Superior Court gives campers a reprieve until June 15, 2023. The MTQ announces that it is starting construction in areas where there is no danger for campers.