The dismantling of the homeless camp along Notre-Dame Street in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district is expected to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.
Shortly after 6 a.m., patrol cars could be seen parked along the park, which is owned by the Quebec Ministry of Transport. Several police officers on bicycles as well as members of the SPVM cavalry are also on the scene.
SPVM spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils said the dismantling of the makeshift camp would be carried out by members of the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SSIM).
Chèvrefils said the police presence was there to assist the fire department.
The Montreal Fire Department ordered the immediate evacuation of the camp on Sunday afternoon, the day after a fire broke out inside one of the tents.
According to the City of Montreal, Saturday’s fire almost ignited a propane tank, which would have caused an explosion endangering the occupants of the camp and the residents of the area.
The decision to evict comes after several other fires have occurred in the camp in the past.
The mayor of the district of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais, indicated that the occupants could be housed in Place Dupuis, in downtown Montreal.
Read more:
Montreal merchants raise concerns after emergency shelter opens in downtown hotel
The housing activist organization Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) opposes the evictions. It claims that homeless camps have been around for years and will continue to be present in the city as long as Montreal fails to deal with the housing crisis.
FRAPRU points to an Oct. 6 announcement by the federal minister of families, children and social development, Ahmed Hussen, as well as Quebec ministers Andrée Laforest and Sonia LeBel, to release $3.7 billion over 10 years to improve social and affordable housing.
When the Canada-Quebec agreement was announced, LeBel, minister responsible for Canadian relations and the Canadian Francophonie, signalled that Quebec reserved the right to review all projects, therefore, that Quebec would select its priorities and that the government of Canada should then invest accordingly.
FRAPRU spokesperson Véronique Laflamme accuses the government of Quebec of not doing enough to fulfill its electoral promise to deliver all of the 15,000 social housing units announced by the previous government. She reports that for two years, only 2,500 units have been built or are in the process of being built.
—With files from Travis Todd, Global News