The twenty campers had received a written notice on Saturday from the Quebec Ministry of Transport (MTQ), which owns the land, telling them to vacate the premises by Monday at the latest.
The first occupants had set up tents and trailers in mid-April.
Shortly after 4:00 p.m., the campers had indeed left the scene. Members of the SPVM tactical intervention group had formally asked them to leave the wooded area around 2 p.m.
Dozens of demonstrators, some of whom arrived early Monday morning, came to occupy the land during the dismantling of the facilities in order to offer their support to the campers.
Containers had been made available to the occupants for them to store their personal effects.
The dismantling took place peacefully, despite a growing police presence over the hours. To ensure the smooth running of the evacuation, rue Hochelaga was closed to traffic, between rue Viau and boulevard de l’Assomption.
In the morning, some campers had decided to move their homes to a vacant lot near the wooded area, not far from Boulevard de l’Assomption. However, they were quickly driven from the area by the police.
Many police officers were ready to intervene to remove the occupants from the camp.
The MTQ justified its decision to evict the campers by citing a recent recommendation from the Montreal Fire Department, which suggested that the ministry take charge of the land because of the serious fire danger that the situation represented.
But for Michel Monette, general manager of Care Montreal, an organization that helps homeless people, the camp was no more dangerous than a campsite anywhere in Quebec.
Mr. Monette said that his organization had proposed to the authorities to take over the coordination of the site and to to secure with their help. There is no reason to dismantle the camp if we secure the place. And the field is useless, so there is no point in taking people out, he argued.
For her part, Nathalie Goulet, responsible for social inclusion and homelessness at the City of Montreal, said that the City could not tolerate organized camps.
Campers will be sure to have a place to sleep and something to eat as of Monday evening, the City said.
The wooded Steinberg is the second Montreal homeless camp to be dismantled by the police. In early December, the occupants of a camp set up on land along Notre-Dame Street were also evicted. This camp had been maintained for almost six months.
