Swift action has led to the removal of metal so-called "anti-homeless" spikes intended to keep loiterers away from a downtown Montreal storefront.
The spikes were discovered Tuesday morning outside of Archambault, a books, music and movie store at the corner of Ste. Catherine St. E and Berri St.
Quebecor Media owns the Archambault chain, and the company tweeted Monday that it doesn’t own the building, and did not ask for the spikes to be installed.
The company’s tweet was one out of many tweets expressing outrage about the measure on social media.
Archambault n'est pas propriétaire de l'édifice, l'installation des pics n'a pas été faite à sa demande. Nous demandons à les retirer.
— Québecor Média (@QuebecorMedia) June 10, 2014
Mayor Denis Coderre tweeted that it was “unacceptable.”
Les pics anti-itinérants sont inacceptables!!!!
— DenisCoderre (@DenisCoderre) June 10, 2014
He later visited the store to see the spikes for himself and spoke to reporters.
“It’s a disgrace. This is not the kind of society I want to live in, and when I noticed that happened I want to make sure we kick that out,” he said.
Coderre added the spikes pose a risk to pedestrians and cyclists if they were to fall onto them. He promised they would be gone by the end of the day.
"What about safety, what about human beings, what about dignity, what about respect for the others? The reason why they have that is because they don't want anyone to sit there and we know who's sitting there. My role is to make sure that we're all first-class citizens and to humiliate those individuals by doing that. I don't think that's the kind of signature I want to have for my city," he said.
Homeless man Rejean Archambault said he felt the spikes were demeaning.
"I feel they're treating me like garbage. You can't sit there. It's not fair," he said.
Farell Duclair, director of the Welcome Hall Mission, said the building owner likely made the decision without consulting organizations that work with the homeless.
"I think that coming together as a community to solve those issues is a much better way and I think you'll end up having better solutions that do not degrade," said Duclair.
The sentiment was echoed by Jeanh-Francois Lisee, who serves as the opposition critic for Montreal in Quebec City.
"The next step is for the Quebec government to go ahead with a comprehensive plan about homelessness," he said.
By about 11:30 a.m., the controversial spikes were removed.
@CTVMontreal Looks like the controversial spikes outside Archambault are being removed right now. #Montreal pic.twitter.com/j6Zd57o0Np
— Maya Johnson (@MJohnsonCTV) June 10, 2014
The same kind of spikes were the target of outrage recently in London, England.
