Parks Canada cancels camping event in Montreal amid criticism over unhoused people
Advocates for Montreal's homeless residents ramped up critiques of Parks Canada over the weekend, saying a series of local camping events the agency has scheduled throughout the summer set a double standard between those with financial means and those without.
The events, dubbed learn-to-camp, are described as an opportunity to learn basic camping skills for the price of $108.75 per tent along the Lachine canal in the city's west end.
"I laughed out of despair when I saw that," Annie Archambault, who works with a non-profit organization that helps Montreal's vulnerable populations, said in an interview on Sunday.
Archambault, of Rue action prévention jeunesse, said the initiative comes off as a bad joke as the city's authorities frequently dismantle encampments for the homeless erected on public land.
"It's insulting and ironic, we've been fighting for years against dismantling encampments for the homeless but the city has zero-tolerance," she said. "If you don't have money, you can't (camp) but for $108.75, you can."
Parks Canada posted a statement to its website cancelling the first event on Saturday without providing a reason for the move, but the same events scheduled for July 23, Aug. 13, 20, and 27 are still open for registration.
Parks Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Archambault said the remaining dates should be cancelled and the camping gear handed to groups that work with people without homes.
"It's not the activity itself that we're denouncing, but the irony of it and the location," Archambault said, adding Parks Canada lacked sensitivity in sending the message that public spaces are for people who can afford them.
Caroline Leblanc, a doctoral candidate in community health at Université de Sherbrooke who studies people experiencing homelessness, agreed.
"It's distasteful," Leblanc said in an interview on Sunday.
"Right now, there are several people living in the streets who have to deal with repression to find a spot where to go. It's a double standard. We promote Montreal as an inclusive city … some reflection needs to be done."
When asked about the criticism over the camping activity, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said last week the decision belonged to Parks Canada. She also reiterated the city's long-held stance that encampments are not a solution to homelessness.
"It's a question of dignity and safety; we will continue to discourage encampments," Plante told reporters on June 29.
For Leblanc, Parks Canada's initiative only mirrors a deeper issue.
"The question is not how Parks Canada could have done a better job, they were probably not ill-intentioned, it’s about not only the city but also the provincial government’s emergency response toward the housing crisis and the increase of people without homes," Leblanc said.
About 600 households were left without a home after the province's Jul. 1 moving day, according to a report released on Saturday by Quebec housing advocacy group Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain. About 420 renter households were without housing at the same time last year.
"We see nice camping of 15 tents on Lachine canal … why can't we do that type of thing," Leblanc said.
Leblanc stressed that dismantling encampments for the homeless is deeply taxing on unhoused people, urging officials to find solutions to secure Montreal's public space for everybody.
"Nobody wants to die in a tent, they want stability," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
Images taken deep inside melted Fukushima reactor show damage, but leave many questions unanswered
Images taken by miniature drones from deep inside a badly damaged reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant show displaced control equipment and misshapen materials but leave many questions unanswered, underscoring the daunting task of decommissioning the plant.
DEVELOPING February inflation rate slows to 2.8% as price growth unexpectedly eases
Canada's annual inflation rate unexpectedly fell to 2.8 per cent last month, amid sharp declines in cellular and internet services as well as slower grocery price growth.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.