Downtown Montreal residents plan to sue over homeless shelter

Neighbours are decrying the state of Montreal's Devonshire Park, where drug use and decay have been the norm.

Montreal’s Devonshire Park was once an oasis for children, but neighbours say that reality has changed.

The shelter at nearby Hôtel-Dieu opened its doors in 2021. Ever since, residents say the neighbourhood has been on a decline from abandoned parks to drugs and filthy alleyways.

“It’s a melting pot of clientele that opened a few years ago right next to this very livable area,” says Devonshire resident Jordan Dupuis.

That’s why some residents in the area will receive $12,000 from the Quebec Collective Action Assistance Fund.

The amount will serve as pre-funding for a class action lawsuit against the CHUM, the local health authority, Old Brewery Mission and the city of Montreal.

“Someone broke in my apartment. Now I have to get cameras. I live on the main floor, so people do their basic needs on my main floor,” Dupuis says.

Éric Faille, who has lived in the area for several years says the lack of communication from the agencies involved has been frustrating.

“Communication. That’s the key word,” Faille says.

Human rights advocate Fo Niemi, who is helping the residents, says the funding marks an important step in a lengthy process.

“With the pre-class action funding, they will have the means to hire a lawyer to go to the Superior Court later in December,” said the executive director of CRARR.

Residents of nearby Milton-Park received the same funding earlier this year.

The Milton area has experienced similar issues. Since the Open Door shelter relocated to Park Avenue in 2018, many in the area say it too has become unsafe.

“You have screaming criminality in our neighborhood,” Milton resident Andrée Deveault told CTV.

“Neither of our lawsuits is against the homeless. If anything it’s for them because they’re not taken care of properly. Every level of government passes a buck to the other level, and in the end, the residents in the neighborhood suffer,” she added.

CTV reached out to the city of Montreal but did not hear back before publication.

In a statement, the CHUM wrote “the management of Hôtel-Dieu has been transferred to CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, and the CHUM no longer has any involvement.”

Both the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and the Old Brewery Mission said it could not comment on a case before the courts.

Meanwhile, residents hope to get a seat at the table when decisions are being made about their neighbourhood.