Homeless people living in a camp under the Ville-Marie highway have just obtained a new reprieve: Superior Court judge Chantal Masse orders the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) to wait another 10 days before to evict them to undertake work where they are located, near Atwater Avenue.

The decision, rendered late Tuesday afternoon, follows steps taken by the Traveling Legal Clinic, which challenged the eviction of the campers in court. A first eviction notice was served on them last November, but the government backed down at the last minute to give them time to find a place to relocate. Then, at the beginning of March, they were told that they had to leave before March 31, when the work began.

In March, an agreement was reached with the government, which was to seek solutions to house the campers before their eviction, but these discussions ended in failure.

In her ruling, Judge Masse points out that campers have nowhere to go. “Many of these people suffer from mental health and addiction issues and some live in couples or own pets, which disqualifies them or makes it extremely difficult to access support through many programs and resources such as shelters or subsidized housing,” she wrote.

“Access to subsidized housing is also not accessible in the short term for these people, both because of the formalities to be completed, which are complex for these people, and the waiting lists. »

During the hearing, the judge deplored the lack of effort made by the government, through the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, to find housing for campers, taking account of their particular needs.

The magistrate is now asking the CIUSSS to continue working to find places to house the inhabitants of the camp together.

More details to come.