Police Dislodge Invadors on an Empty Lot in Montreal

Today, the police forced a group of mostly young people off an empty lot where they had been living in tents for the last five days. They were there to protest the absence of affordable housing for those with limited incomes in a city being invaded by luxury condos. In 1970, a group of mostly young people invaded a territory to the south of Lima (Peru) because there was no longer any affordable housing in the city itself. Hundreds of thousands followed them and the district of Villa El Salvador was born. In 1978, a group of young parents invaded an area to the north-east of Lima, Canto Grande for the same reason. Hundreds of thousands of people followed them and the district of San Juan de Lurigancho was born -- now the most populous district in all of Peru. What happened these last days in St-Henri (Montreal) extends a very long and noble history. It is unfortunate, though, that authorities only respond, and often only very, very slowly, whn ordinary people take great risks to make their point.