Quebec agrees to delay dismantling of homeless encampment in east Montreal

Tents have been set up along Notre-Dame Street East, near Pie-IX Boulevard, in Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. (CTV News)

The dismantling of a homeless encampment this week in Montreal's east end has been averted — for now.

The Clinique juridique itinérante (CJI) told CTV News that it managed to negotiate a reprieve with the provincial transport ministry until Dec. 1.

The ministry, which owns the land, had planned to evict the people living in the encampment on Notre-Dame Street East on Thursday, saying that it had received complaints from the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough about incivility and unsanitary conditions in the park.

According to the CJI, warming centres will officially open soon, giving the homeless population more time to get organized as winter weather approaches.

"Dismantling the encampment right now would force the unhoused to wander in the city streets with nowhere to go," said CJI lawyer Helena Lamed.

The Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité handed out eviction notices last Friday after receiving a notice of non-compliance regarding three encampment locations: the area near Parc Morgan, a structure on the east corner of Bourbonnière Avenue, and an encampment between Joliette and Aylwin streets, which was longer present as of Monday.

The notices warned people living near Parc Morgan that the site would be cleaned up and that any personal property left behind would be discarded.

In recent days, there was a surge of signatures on an online petition from people who called for a moratorium on the dismantling of the encampment, citing concerns about the lack of access to housing and shelters and the fact that "taking shelter in public space is becoming the only short-term option for more and more people."

According to Noovo Info, about 70 people are living in tents along Notre-Dame.