Lawyers representing Montreal encampment ask for more time before eviction

Lawyers representing the people living in an encampment under the Ville-Marie expressway filed a court appeal on Monday asking to delay an eviction order targeting the tent community. 

Last week, Quebec Superior Court Judge Pierre Nolet ordered the 15 or so people living there to gather their belongings and leave by Friday, June 16, so construction can get underway on the expressway.  It was the latest eviction date for the group, which had initially been ordered to leave by mid-November in 2022.

Lawyers said today they are asking for that deadline to be extended by one more month until July 15.

The executive director of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, Na'kuset, says she's worried the evicted members of the tent community will only add to the growing number of homeless people she's been seeing in the Montreal Metro. 

"Forcing people to leave this area by the end of the week is going to only do harm," she told journalists Monday. 

"What we're asking for is just another month.... I think that's not a lot to ask."

David Chapman, the executive director of Resilience Montreal, a group that is helping those concerned find long-term housing, says though living arrangements have been made for half the group, the organization needs more time to make sure everyone is relocated. 

"It doesn't happen, say, in a week's time that all of a sudden you go from having sparse documentation to entering a subsidized apartment," said Chapman. 

"Normally you need ID, some form of income, you need your taxes done, all of these things take some time," he said. 

Jacco Stuben, who has been living under the expressway for more than a decade, is among those with no clear lodging past Friday.  

"I really don't know where to go," he said. "This is the first time in history they're asking us to leave."

The group was initially asked to leave in November with two weeks' notice.

Following community outcry, the eviction date was moved to March which is when the Mobile Legal Clinic (MLC) first filed court documents asking for the eviction date to be pushed back to July 15.

The eviction was then scheduled for April 12 and then delayed by 10 days. At the end of April, the Quebec Superior Court renewed the MLC's injuction request for another seven weeks. 

On June 6, Quebec Superior Court Judge Pierre Nolet refused to renew the injunction once more, saying there were resources available to the members of the tent community which they were choosing to ignore. Nolet also said public safety was at stake, with repairs needed to the highway.

Advocates say keeping group together part of the challenge

"There are shelters available, that's all very nice if you're a single man or a single woman and you're not using substances at night and you have no pets," said Chapman. 

"The group here, if they're scattered they will not be headed to the local shelters, which make these exclusions," he said.

Na'kuset says that is particularly true for Indigenous people, who Chapman says make up part of the tent community. 

"It's really hard to move into spaces where there is a sense of community, a sense of understanding, culturally appropriate services," said Na'kuset. 

Her organization is working to create these spaces but she says that kind of work takes time. 

She also said if the community is separated, she's worried it will be harder for Resilience Montreal staff to locate the members and follow up with them to provide care. 

According to Chapman, breaking up the group also puts drug users at higher risk of overdosing alone and therefore of dying. 

"It's a case about the life and health of the people living under this bridge," he said. 

A spokesperson for the Transport Ministry says maintenance on the structure supporting the highway has already begun as part of a three-year contract. The ministry would not comment further because the matter involves a legal case.

The director of the Mobile Legal Clinic, Donald Tremblay, says the case will be heard Tuesday. He says he expects a decision will be made in the coming days.