Tents in the Churchyard

Homelessness has started to redefine the urban experience in Canada. It is hard to walk, ride, or commute the streets of any city without intersecting with unhoused people. In Montreal, where I live, barely a day goes by that the media doesn’t report on problems of itinérance. Our transit system, the Société de transport de Montréal, recently announced it had no choice but to be more aggressive in evicting homeless people from its stations, due to feelings of insecurity among riders. Local hospitals are also noting more and more unhoused people squatting in emergency rooms. Even Trudeau International Airport has a homeless village of approximately fifty within its walls.

Then there are outdoor homeless encampments, the most famous being on Rue Notre-Dame, near the boarded‑up Molson Brewery. It numbered over 300 people during the early days of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Officials eventually disbanded it for fire safety reasons, but it has occasionally been...