Squatters setback

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by Craig Segal

Just one week after moving into their new digs on Rachel East, the city is already talking about moving the squatters out.

"They'll stay at least until the end of September," says squatter lawyer Denis Poitras. "Pierre Bourque wants to turn this to his advantage for the election. It won't turn into ammunition for the opposition," he adds, referring to the November megacity election.

So why is Bourque talking about kicking the squatters out of their new quarters?

Some point to the building itself. Several groups--including one for male victims of violence--had hoped to get the building before it was given to the squatters, says François Saillant, of social housing activist group FRAPRU. Others point to media that pitted squatters against the 8,000 Montrealers on the waiting list for social housing. This despite the fact that the building on Rachel was never slated as social housing--it's been an abandoned detox centre since 1997.

Meanwhile, the squatters are fortifying themselves and have posted a security guard at the entrance, letting no one in without clearance. "We're trying to be polite with media, but they do what they want with our words," says organizer Catherine Fortin, of le Comité des sans-emploi. "Many neighbours back us, but newspapers interview the neighbours who hate us."