(Montreal) As Parks Canada began its camping initiation activity on the banks of the Lachine Canal on the Coursiers bank on Saturday, demonstrators erected their own tents next door to protest against the dismantling of the camps of people in situation roaming by the City of Montreal.
Posted at 3:25 p.m.
Updated at 4:43 p.m.
The relationship between Parks Canada and the protesters, which began as a conflict, now exists as a cooperative one.
“When we saw the activity of Parks Canada, we really found it ironic, because if you pay for an activity, then it’s ok to camp, so it’s really according to your social class”, explained the organizer of the “Initiation à la solidarité” event and homelessness outreach worker, Annie Archambault.
“We ourselves have homeless people on Parks Canada land, so we decided to take the opportunity to share a space for dialogue, a space also for education, awareness of the realities experienced by people who are homeless,” said Simon Saint-Germain, Visitor Experience Team Leader for Parks Canada and Manager of Montreal’s Initiation to the Outdoors Program, in a joint interview with Mr.me Archambault.
Finally, “we allied for the day: Parks Canada lends us its land, provides us with water, we have a toilet”, indicated this one. In addition, an awareness activity will take place in the evening, around a campfire.
Already, at the beginning of the afternoon, half a dozen demonstrators began to erect their tents, but others are expected in the evening. As for the outdoor activity, we expect about fifteen tents, that is to say about sixty people.
In early July, Parks Canada had canceled a first activity due to criticism from the community.
Mr. Saint-Germain, however, argued that “we have to do double standards” when we compare the initiation to the outdoors to the reality of people experiencing homelessness, as “what we offer, really is a very one-time occasion […] it is not an accommodation offer”. The $108 per tent that it costs to participate in the event also covers introductory activities in fishing, kayaking and yoga, as well as a lunch.
The activity has taken place every summer since 2011, except for the past two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city challenged
Montreal has been dismantling makeshift camps several times, in particular to counter the risk of fire. On July 13, such a camp had been dismantled on Notre-Dame Street.
Last week, the municipality had published a job offer for a “homelessness liaison officer” whose mandate “consists of coordinating the actions to be taken during the eviction or dismantling of temporary shelters, camps and tents on the estate. public and private”, while redirecting campers to support organizations. This announcement was criticized by several community stakeholders.
Mme Archambault, argued that “the community has long been asking for a vacant lot with workers on site and that everything be safe, and it has always been refused. […]but the most important thing is access to housing, access to social housing, to subsidized housing”.
In the meantime, she called for tolerance towards campers, as “very often they are people who are simply waiting for accommodation”.
The City of Montreal did not immediately respond to requests from The Canadian Press.