Quebec judge grants injunction halting eviction of homeless camp living under highway – Montreal | 24CA News
Quebec’s Superior Court has granted a brief 10-day injunction to halt the dismantling and displacement of a long-standing homeless encampment positioned below a serious Montreal freeway.
In her Tuesday ruling, Justice Chantal Masse ordered the Quebec Transport Ministry — which owns the property under the town’s Ville-Marie expressway — to stop preparatory work that might disrupt the encampment and the small group of those who have taken shelter there.
Masse additionally ordered the ministry to “refrain from having any contact with the people living in the encampment.”
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A homeless camp is proven beneath an overpass in Montreal, Friday, April 14, 2023. The Quebec Superior Court has granted a brief 10-day injunction to halt the dismantling and eviction of a homeless encampment positioned beneath a serious Montreal freeway.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
The province should additionally work with the Mobile Legal Clinic, a neighborhood group that advocates for folks experiencing homelessness and filed the injunction utility in March.
Mobile’s Director General Donald Tremblay stated some residents have been dwelling within the camp for years.
He says the ruling suggests the decide acknowledged that resident rights can be violated in the event that they have been forcibly evicted.
“The judge recognized that there is an apparent infringement of their rights, including the right to life and security. The court also weighed the repercussions of delaying the construction work versus the consequences of evicting the people,” Tremblay stated.
“And the judge recognized that there were bigger consequences for the people living in the encampment. The government was not able to prove that delaying the work would jeopardize the whole project.”
Quebec’s Ministry of Transport has decided the freeway should endure main restore work that was scheduled to begin in September 2022 and be accomplished by 2025.
The tent group acquired a primary eviction discover in November, however the ministry postponed the displacement to an undetermined date to be able to discover a resolution. When none emerged, the eviction was rescheduled to April 12. Then in early March, residents obtained verbal discover that the encampment can be dismantled by the tip of the month.
Karine Lacoste, who struggles with substance use and has been dwelling on the camp for a couple of yr, stated its roughly 20 residents have nowhere else to go and can attempt to return if they’re evicted.
“I feel safe here. We are like a big family. I think there is a way to manage this because they need to put us somewhere. A shelter close by gives us blankets in the winter, cigarettes, food and clothes. It’s a really good place,” Lacoste stated in an interview on Friday.
Lacoste famous it might be powerful for encampment residents to outlive with out the help system of the group they created. One of her mates, she stated, has lived on the camp for seven years and at present has a pregnant girlfriend.
David Chapman, Executive Director of homeless shelter Resilience Montreal positioned two blocks from the encampment, stated group members have restricted relocation choices — even within the brief time period — due to their complicated and precarious scenario.
For instance, he stated shelters separate {couples} by gender so they can not spend the evening collectively. They additionally don’t enable pets, and people who find themselves actively utilizing medicine or alcohol are usually not allowed to take action on the premises.
“The government of Quebec and the Ministry of Transport have said that they’ve been actively working since last November to help the people under the highway relocate to a better place. It’s utter nonsense,” Chapman stated in an interview.
“Resilience Montreal has offered the government of Quebec and the Ministry of Transport a relocation plan where we would temporarily put the people into a motel for a number of months until we could find apartments that suited each of their individual needs, but to date, the proposal has been ignored.”
Court paperwork present Quebec’s lawyer normal argued that neither the Ministry of Transport nor the provincial authorities are accountable for shouldering the price of relocating and rehousing the encampment’s residents.
The ministry additionally informed courtroom that delaying the beginning of the development work would end in “significant complications and unacceptable risks.”
Quebec’s Transport Ministry stated on Thursday it might not touch upon Masse’s ruling for the reason that case remains to be earlier than the courtroom.
“We are inviting the government to negotiate a solution with us,” Tremblay stated. “Up until now, the government has refused to find a humane solution for these people. But we hope that the government will listen to reason. They have a responsibility to take care of people who are the most vulnerable in Quebec.”
Tremblay additionally stated that when the ten days have lapsed, the authorized clinic will return to courtroom and request a 10-day extension of the injunction.
A person who didn’t need to present his title and has been dwelling below the expressway for years stated the potential for being evicted has induced him nice anguish.
“They give us 10 days, but I hope that they will give us more time because it is not easy. I feel safe here. If we go to another place, it will be very hard. The people will go crazy because we have been here for a very long time,” he stated.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante informed reporters on Wednesday that the town doesn’t view sleeping in a tent as an answer, including these experiencing homelessness must have entry to present sources in a “dignified and humane way.”
But Plante acknowledged the town is going through a housing scarcity and has requested extra social housing.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
