A dozen homeless people camping under the Ville-Marie freeway near Atwater Avenue will soon be evacuated as the Quebec Ministry of Transportation (MTQ), which appears to have no concrete plan, plans to relocate them.
Posted at 6:04 p.m
“The MTQ wants to get rid of us in the middle of winter, that’s not right. They tell us to go to emergency shelters, but they don’t help us,” regrets Jacko Stuben, who says he set up camp in this inhospitable place more than 10 years ago. “I need help, I’m looking for help, but it’s not easy. »
He says he recently received a visit from MTQ employees, who warned campers to evacuate the site before construction under the freeway lanes begins in late March or early April.
Delayed Eviction
The homeless group had already been threatened with eviction last November, but the government decided to postpone the operation to give them time to find a place to live.
In fact, only one person, an elderly lady, moved into a home on February 1, thanks to the help of a community group.
The other campers are still there. Tents and plastic sheeting shelters are scattered on the dirt site, set back from Atwater Avenue, under the highway’s concrete slab, which provides some protection from the weather despite the noise of traffic and passing trains.
Each group has placed their belongings in their corner. Here we find an old tattered armchair, there a rickety grill, further a rusty bicycle. Clothing, food and garbage lie on the frozen ground. In one corner, a plastic bucket serves as a toilet.
Jacko Stuben’s warehouse is surrounded by numerous rubbish and recyclables bins. The Sri Lankan man, who has lived in Canada for 35 years, has a mania for picking up and storing anything he finds; He therefore lives surrounded by a heap of heterogeneous objects and garbage. He says he’s worked as an exterminator before, so insecticides go hand-in-hand with food.
Next door, a couple whose wife is pregnant prefers to stay in their tent on this cold morning. All you can hear is her coughing through the thin screen.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
A pregnant woman prefers to stay in her tent on this cold morning.
complex situations
“These are people who are not easy to relocate. Some use drugs, others are in a relationship and don’t want to break up to go to animal shelters, others have pets,” explains David Chapman, director of Résilience Montréal, which runs a day shelter not far from Rue Sainte-Catherine. where hot meals are served and where the homeless can take a shower, among other things.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
David Chapman, Executive Director of Resilience Montreal
“I don’t know what I’ll do if we’re evicted, I’ll improvise. So life is ! says John, a young man who pitched his tent at the camp four or five months ago. In the winter, his bike trailer was stolen along with all his belongings, including a tent and sleeping bag. Luckily a community organization helped him get new ones and John is very proud of his new tent.
“That’s the danger of living outdoors: you could be robbed, there could be violence,” observes David Chapman. “But a camp is also a small community. People help each other and can take care of each other when they are sick. »
Because of this, we can’t just rip these people out of their living environment, he adds. “If they are displaced, they will look for another place to pitch their tent, where they may be isolated and therefore at greater risk,” he says, noting that there are other sites under the highway are where tents could be pitched.
security question
The Ministry of Transport assures that the site must be cleared as the work to be carried out would endanger the safety of the campers. “The Ministry does not have the expertise to find housing for these people. So we are working with the Department of Health, with the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest de l’île de Montréal, and with the cities of Westmount and Montreal to relocate them,” said MTQ spokeswoman Sarah Bensadoun.
“Team Connexion works with the homeless population in the region where we operate,” said Barry Morgan, CIUSSS spokesperson for Centre-Ouest de l’île de Montréal, in an email reply. “The members of this team have visited the campers concerned several times. Services have been offered several times in the past and we continue to offer them. Campers have the right to refuse services and often do so. Campers have been advised that they will need to move. »
Since the homeless refuse to leave the premises, who then takes care of their eviction? “We are not responsible for destocking,” replies Mr. Morgan.
The City of Westmount, where the property in question is located, states that the location falls within the jurisdiction of the MTQ. At the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal, spokeswoman Caroline Labelle points out that “it is therefore the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) that intervenes in this place in support of the MTQ”.
But on the side of the SQ, spokeswoman Camille Savoie states that the MTQ has not submitted a request for assistance. “They’re the ones responsible if they want to kick people out,” she said.
Jacko Stuben would like to have his own apartment where he could live with two flatmates and a vegetable garden in the backyard. “But housing costs $1,800! How could I afford that? “, he falls.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Jacko Stuben, a longtime homeless person, expresses regret at MTQ’s eviction request.
“Why can’t we find subsidized and supervised apartments for them? asks David Chapman. “It would be far better than spending money to send the police to the scene of any complaint. »
CAPSULE
“The problem will not go away”
Federal housing prosecutor Marie-Josée Houle is concerned about the imminent eviction after visiting the camp under the Ville-Marie motorway last week.
“The situation is complex, but what is the government’s strategy? She asks. “We can’t just say, ‘You have to leave this place or we’ll take your belongings, we’ll destroy the tools that help you survive and give you some security.’ »
According to Ms. Houle, it is important to find solutions that are adapted to the situation of each person in need and not to send them to just any emergency shelter. “To respect their dignity, we need to talk to them about finding decent housing, but there are so few housing units available,” she laments.
If they have no alternative but to live in a camp, a recent Ontario Superior Court ruling suggests the government must settle them there and even provide them with sanitation and drinking water, she notes.
“For several years, municipalities have used the police or harassment to force campers to leave. It makes them disappear in one place, but the problem doesn’t go away,” she stresses.
The Federal Housing Advocate launched an investigation into camps in Canada and the human rights abuses of those living there in February. The result of this exercise should lead to recommendations for the federal government next autumn.