Homeless people living in an encampment under a highway in downtown Montreal will be able to stay where they are until mid-June, a judge ruled on Monday, which will however have the impact of once again delaying the start of major work planned on this aging infrastructure.
Superior Court Judge Suzanne Courchesne on Monday endorsed an agreement reached by lawyers for the Department of Transportation and the 15 to 20 people camping under the highway. Some limited work, which does not affect the camp, may therefore begin.
This is the third time that campers have been spared being evicted and moved by the Department of Transport, which has been trying since September to evict them and begin repairs to the Ville-Marie highway.
According to the director of the Mobile Legal Clinic, Me Donald Tremblay, this new decision by Judge Courchesne represents a victory for the homeless people living in the camp. It will also allow both parties to take more time to find a more humane solution.
“We must relocate them – they are not stray dogs or cats, he recalled in a press scrum. These are people with very serious health problems who need help.
“As a society, we have to ask ourselves how we help the most vulnerable people. »
Me Tremblay hopes that the two parties can reach an amicable agreement. He is counting on the good faith of the government to find a way to house the people currently living in tents.
The small community that has formed under the freeway received an initial eviction notice in November, but the Department of Transportation postponed its plans in order to find a compromise with the campers. However, since no compromise had been found, the expulsion was postponed until the end of March.
Before Monday’s decision, Me Tremblay’s traveling legal clinic had already obtained two other court injunctions to postpone the eviction of the campers.
The case is due back in court at the end of May. The lawyers could then ask for a reprieve until mid-July, unless there is an agreement with the government.
In search of solutions
The director general of the Resilience Montreal day shelter, David Chapman, hopes that Monday’s injunction will encourage the government to think about what can be done to help these homeless people.
“This is another small victory for human rights,” he said.
“From Resilience Montreal’s point of view, we are happy to negotiate with the Government of Quebec to find a way to house these people. Unfortunately, so far there has not been much real effort on their part to engage in such negotiation,” Mr. Chapman lamented.
Michel Chabot, who has been living in a tent under the highway for 10 months, admitted that he would like to be offered a move to an apartment whose rent would be subsidized.
“They can’t put us on the street, we’re already on the street,” recalled Mr. Chabot.
Lawyer Éric Préfontaine, who represented the campers in court, said political intervention by a minister would certainly be helpful in this case.
“I believe that the government does not seem to want to create a precedent by finding a specific solution for these 15 to 20 people”, however noted Me Préfontaine.
“On the one hand, he doesn’t want to create a precedent, but on the other hand, it would be much cheaper to find a solution than to add delays,” he argued.