Homeless camp under Ville-Marie Expressway: Eviction delayed until June 15, injunction extended

An injunction was granted to delay the eviction of people living under the Ville-Marie Expressway, until June 15 – as the Quebec Transport ministry looks to conduct repair work there.

“I’m happy because we’ve gained a bit of time. And by saving time, I imagine that we will find a solution to the problem,” said Michel Chabot, one people who has been living in the encampment.

Donald Tremblay, the director and founder of the Mobile Legal Clinic, is also satisfied with the Quebec judge’s decision on Monday. “It’s a victory because it gives us time to find a human solution which respects the human rights of these people,” he said, adding, “I’d like to remind that they’re very vulnerable people, they need to be helped. They have dignity and they have needs that need to be addressed.”

The previous injunction had halted Transport Quebec from making repairs on the infrastructure between Atwater and Guy, but now the parties have come to an agreement to allow work to go ahead in areas not far from the encampment – without displacing those living in tents there. When the work resumes, the agreement is that it will be isolated from the encampment.

“There are going to be barriers, cement barriers and fences also that will be erected to make sure that these zones are very circumscribed and that are not made accessible to anyone else but the workers and also to protect the security of the homeless people living in the encampment,” said Éric Préfontaine, the lawyer arguing for the homeless community.

In the long term, the hope is to find permanent homes for the people living in the encampment. Advocates working with Montreal’s homeless population launched a petition urging the Quebec government to find the necessary funding to provide the housing.

“From the perspective of resilience Montreal were happy to negotiate a housing solution with the government of Quebec. Unfortunately, today there has been little real effort on their part to engage in such a negotiation,” said David Chapman, the executive director and founder of Resilience Montreal.

Michel Chabot, who has been living under the expressway for 10 months, adds, “the ideal solution would be to have a subsidized apartment. I am a sick person, I need help. I can’t get out of this. I tried, I can’t get out of it.”

If permanent homes are not found for this homeless community, lawyers representing the encampment will be back in court on May 30 to potentially extend the injunction until July 15.

Earlier this month, the Mobile Legal Clinic had asked that the eviction be paused until at least July.

Advocates saying that some people have not been welcome in night shelters.

A Superior Court judge had postponed the eviction notice by the Transport ministry starting April 11, and that had since expired.

Those who work with Montreal’s homeless population launched a petition a week ago urging the Quebec government to find the necessary funding to provide housing for people living in an encampment under the Ville-Marie Expressway.

Resilience Montreal, who is heading the petition, say people in the encampment are “among the most vulnerable in Quebec.”

The Transport ministry has said the eviction is necessary to carry out major repairs under the expressway.

 

BACKGROUND:

• Petition urges Quebec government to find funds to house those living under Ville-Marie Expressway
• Interim injunction to suspend eviction of homeless people under Ville-Marie Expressway for 10 days
• Lawsuit to stop evictions of homeless under Ville-Marie Expressway
• Lawyers, province negotiating to find housing for those living under Ville-Marie Expressway

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“Some members of this street community suffer from mental health problems or serious illnesses, such as cancer and staphylococcus aureus; that others have serious drug problems, and that one woman is pregnant,” states the petition. And that the government has done nothing to help relocate those living there since the first eviction notice was served in the fall of 2022.

They are requesting funds for a pilot project to house the community, adding that the government has a responsibility to protect them.

Earlier this month, a judge said both the residents of the encampment and the Transport Ministry should work to come up with a plan to relocate those who will inevitably be displaced. Advocates say those talks have yet to take place.