By Colin McGregor
“They’re throwing out people who have been thrown out (ils mettent les dehors dehors).”
That’s how one long-time social worker saw what was going on this morning just behind the offices of Café Graffiti and The Social Eyes. A large group of police and city blue collar workers were clearing the Notre Dame encampment away, throwing various belongings into the shovel of a large front end loader, while various media and local Hochelaga-Maisonneuve residents and social workers watched on.
“That’s my whole life gone” said David, a camper, in tear, sitting on the remnants of what was once a temporary home. “The city even took away things that the city gave me.”
The encampment goes (went) on for hundreds of metres along the north side of Notre Dame Street East, where there is a long ribbon-shaped park and a bicycle path.
According to Transports Québec, which owns the land, the camp presented risks to public safety and health. Police erected a security perimeter, in part to keep protestors at a distance from the dismantling.
Photo of camper David: Colin McGregor
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