Statement Regarding the Quebec Pandemic Response’s Disproportionate Impact on Unhoused and Migrant Populations
ɫ Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and Legislative Council
February 12, 2021
To members of the ɫ community,
On February 4, 2021, the ɫ Board of Directors ratified the Motion Condemning the Quebec Pandemic Response’s Disproportionate Impact on Unhoused Individuals, approved by the ɫ Legislative Council on January 28. This motion mandated the ɫ Executive Committee to release an official communication articulating the ɫ’s position on the Quebec government’s pandemic response.
The ɫ condemns the disproportionate impact of the Quebec government’s pandemic response on marginalised communities, particularly unhoused people and migrant workers. We stand in solidarity with these unfairly and disproportionately impacted groups, and call on our Members to do the same.
On January 9, 2021, the Quebec government in an attempt to reduce community transmission of COVID-19. The government stated that anyone found outside their place of residence between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. could face a minimum fine of $1,000, but also published a to break the curfew, such as medical emergencies or walking a dog. On February 2, the provincial curfew was for another two weeks, with administrative regions at the orange level entering a modified curfew spanning from 9:30 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
While legal minds are split regarding the rights of the Quebec government to implement a curfew, it is apparent that it did so for justifying an action that violates both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court of Canada set out protocols for determining whether a provincial government’s limitation on Charter rights is reasonable and demonstrably justified in the landmark decision R. v. Oakes [1986] 1 S.C.R. 103; these protocols were not observed.
Further, the Quebec government refused to exempt unhoused individuals from the curfew, with Premier Legault stating and claim they are also unhoused. He offered the justification available for the unhoused population, which workers on the ground and unhoused people say. Premier Legault also stated that he trusted police officers not to ticket unhoused individuals, despite . These statements stand in stark contrast to the ɫ’s established position on housing, articulated in its Positions Book, that “a roof over one’s head is not a privilege”. On this basis, the ɫ recognises and condemns the harmful impact of the curfew on unhoused people.
The curfew also significantly affects , in particular , refugee claimants, and , whose precarious employment status makes them liable to be outdoors during the curfew without letters of safe passage, and therefore vulnerable to criminalisation. So far, the government of Quebec has done nothing to address these concerns, despite to reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers during the pandemic.
With all this considered, the ɫ condemns the applicability of the Government of Quebec’s pandemic response towards marginalised communities, in particular unhoused people and migrant workers. Further, the ɫ stands in solidarity with these communities, and applauds the decision of the Honourable Chantal Masse to suspend the curfew’s application to unhoused people.
Lastly, we invite members of the ɫ community to sign this calling on Concordia University to use its currently vacant Grey Nuns residence as a temporary shelter for unhoused people, and to support the work of community organisations like , the , and .
Signed,
The Students’ Society of McGill University
