Montreal evicts people living in tents from camp in Ahuntsic-Cartierville park

Scott DeRapp got an eviction notice on Monday, and then the police came a few days later to force him and several other people to clear out.

He had been staying in Montreal's Basile-Routhier park since April of 2022. He moved there after losing his residence.

It's a small, lightly wooded park in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, on the banks of the Rivière-des-Prairies. DeRapp went from nothing but a light blanket to keep warm at night to sleeping in a tent with his belongings. Then others moved into the park.

More recently, things started to get rowdy.

"There were two people — bad apples. They made problems, and who has to pay? The good ones," said DeRapp. 

Marc-André Lachapelle, an outreach worker in the area, says the encampment started with a few tents, then grew to nine or 10 in recent weeks.

Lachapelle said residents complained, so RAP Jeunesse, the advocacy group he works for, organized a meeting between citizens and police last week. 

"But the citizens did not want to arrive at a peaceful solution," he said. "They wanted to dismantle this campsite. They even said they had lawyers to bring the city to court."

The plan was to have a second meeting, but then police hung eviction notices on the tents Monday, warning campers they had three days to clear out.

Displacing campers means it's harder to keep track of them, and the forced isolation makes it more dangerous, Lachapelle said. For example, people can end up overdosing alone with no one around to call for help, he said, and they are more vulnerable to assault.

"The sense of community is all gone," he said.

He says all the people living in the encampment were from the area, and they will just move a bit farther away to find a place to camp alone instead.

Mayor encourages cohabitation

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante spoke about homelessness, and the effort to discourage people from staying in certain areas, during a news conference Thursday where she unveiled the city's strategy for the Village sector.

The Village, where Ste-Catherine Street is closed to cars and open to pedestrians only, has been experiencing an increasing amount of disturbances and even violence, sparking worry.

Plante said it's not about pushing people away but rather, finding a balance.

"We need to make sure everybody cohabits," she said. "This is where it has to be a team partnership."

Plante said she would like to see the provincial government invest more in social housing and other services.

Can't fight government: DeRapp

DeRapp was packing up Thursday. City officials told him his stuff would be put in storage. In the interim, he doesn't have access to any of it. He was told to keep the essentials.

"What am I going to do? You can't fight against the government. They're the right ones, and everybody else is wrong to them," he said.

He's hoping to get a locker soon so he can get his stuff more easily. He said he has paperwork, clothes and some memories from his old place.

He has no plan to move in anywhere. For now, he's staying out on the street, and he said he's going to make an effort to stay under the radar — unnoticed not just by police, but also others living outside who may steal from him.

He has no interest in going to a shelter. He says he can take care of himself, but welfare payments aren't nearly enough to pay for a place to live.

"I'm just trying my best," said Lachapelle, who has an injured shoulder. "I can't fight no more. I am too tired. They could do more with social housing."