Dismantling of Notre-Dame Street
Homeless Camp in Montreal 
At
around 6:00 am on the morning of December 7, 2020, Montreal police
launched a violent attack on the homeless by evicting them from the
camp they had set up on Notre-Dame Street in east-end Montreal. In
April 2020, a dozen or so homeless persons began setting up a homeless
camp in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood. In June, as the
temporary shelters that housed the homeless during the first wave of
the COVID-19 pandemic were closed one after the other and with the
second wave of the pandemic coming on, the camp grew to 300 tents.
Throughout the summer and fall, the occupants organized
themselves into a collective to look after each other by creating a
kitchen area and a space for exchange. Each day, they received the
support of residents in the area in the form of visits and donations of
material and food. They were active on social media to make their
demands known and show how they were organizing themselves daily to
distribute the material and donations according to the campers' needs.
They let it be known publicly that the issue posed and to be resolved
is access to decent housing in all its forms, from the price of rents
to sanitary conditions that defend human dignity. They informed the
visitors and media who came to meet with them that the regulations for
access to shelters -- no arrivals before 8:00 pm, the prohibition on
having a companion in one's room, mandatory departure by 6:00 am, etc.
are not acceptable conditions for anyone. The enormous support they
garnered from organizations and the population shows how the
affirmation of human dignity must be defended through concrete social
measures that all levels of government must provide. 
On the
morning of December 7, hundreds of police officers established a
"security" perimeter around the campers, using threats, arrests and
violence to forcibly evict them. "To have mobilized 250 police officers
on horseback, bicycle and in cars, with riot gear and even a helicopter
was completely disproportionate. They even threatened the campers with
arrest, forcing them to leave. It's unacceptable," Marine Armengaud of
the Comité BAILS, a housing rights organization located in
the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, said to the press. The
homeless were treated as if they were criminals, with the police
preventing resource persons from different aid organizations from
entering the eviction zone to give support to the campers, if only to
help them collect their personal belongings. Sylvie Boivin, Director of
L'Anonyme, another organization that assists the homeless, told
reporters, "It is totally unacceptable that workers who have been
offering psychosocial support to campers for several months during
these difficult times have been denied access to the site." The
Montreal Fire Department also participated in dismantling the camp,
under the pretext that a candle had started a fire in one of the tents
the Saturday before. People were asking that if the goal is to ensure
everyone's safety, how is that achieved by the police and fire
departments and the City of Montreal violently evicting people causing
untold trauma? What about their demand for the construction of safe
affordable housing? People were forced to watch their meagre
posssessions and tents being holus bolus thrown into garbage disposal
trucks. 
Montreal Mayor
Valérie Plante told the media that "[...] when the Fire
Department decided that the site was no longer safe, that it had to be
evacuated, I endorsed this decision with the Ministry of Transport."
Despite the fact that she has long been asking the Quebec government to
invest the necessary funds for the construction of social housing, it's
the police powers that are being called upon to criminalize those who
are the victims of a social housing crisis that has been known and
recognized for years in Montreal. And this, less than 48 hours before
International Human Rights Day. That same day,
organizations defending the right to housing issued a
communiqué denouncing the repression and criminalization of
those who are fighting to live a dignified life. The use of police
powers, instead of a serious exchange with the homeless and those
involved who have experience in housing needs and who have been
proposing solutions for years, was justly opposed. The press release
points out that: "[...] Based on Mayor Valérie Plante's own
words, homelessness has increased by 60 per cent in Montreal since
March 2020. For years now, the city and governments have been
over-investing in police operations and favouring emergency housing
solutions rather than those that are long-term, such as social housing,
and it's high time this changes. We have concrete proposals and would
like to finally be heard. [...] RAPSIM, TOMS and the Montreal
Indigenous Community NETWORK, in support of the Collectif on
ne laisse personne derrière [Leave No One Behind
Collective], have been challenging the City of Montreal for months
regarding solutions adapted to the needs of people at the camp,
including fire prevention training by firefighters and the development
of safe facilities. Camps are multiplying on the island of Montreal and
urgent responses are being demanded." Montreal has
been experiencing a housing crisis for years. It's a social problem
requiring a pro-social solution, not the violent intervention of police
forces. The City of Montreal and the Legault government must take up
their social responsibility and, as a starting point, address the
demand of the homeless and their defence organizations for the
realization of housing as a right.
This article was published in
August 4, 2021 - No.
65
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08652.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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