OTTAWA (CP) - Police used fire department ladders and blasts of pepper spray Wednesday to evict a ragged band of squatters from a vacant house they had occupied for seven days.
Dozens of activists involved in an anti-G-8 protest last week seized the downtown building across the street from the headquarters of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. They occupied the shabby, privately owned house without running water or real bathroom facilities through days and nights of sweltering, muggy heat, defying police and municipal politicians who sought to negotiate an end to the impasse.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, police struck to clear the property.
Later Wednesday, another group of protesters in Montreal occupied a vacant, three-story building in that city's east end in a similar demonstration against low-income housing.
"It's a war between poor renters and owners," said Alexandre Maroun, an activist with a Montreal anti-poverty group.
"Everyone has a right to be housed. It's a minimum social right."
Last year, Montreal squatters occupied a building for almost three months before police cleared them out in October.
There was no such grace period in Ottawa.
When police arrived early Wednesday, most of the 50-odd people gathered outside the building dispersed. But seven who refused to leave were arrested, as was a man covered by an outstanding warrant.
Police then tried to talk the remaining 14 squatters out of the building, where they had clustered on the third floor behind blocked staircases.
Almost 90 minutes of negotiation by cell phone failed to clear the house, said police spokesman Leo Janveau.
"Police at the scene made it clear that staying in the building was not an option," said Janveau.
When talks failed, police used a ladder truck to move in.
"The police were coming from all around," said an activist who would only give her name as Melissa. "We were keeping a watch and we yelled to the people in the building that the police were coming.
"Then there were fire trucks and ladders and they were shooting pepper spray into the house."
Another witness, identifying himself only as Rick, said: "People were screaming and crying. They were being brutalized."
Janveau said, however, there were no injuries to either protesters or police during the incident.
The 14 squatters were pulled from the house and arrested. One, who was afraid of heights and unable to make his way down the fire ladder, was removed from the third floor in a stretcher, Janveau said.
The squatters had said their occupation was aimed at drawing attention to the lack of affordable housing in the city.
Alex Munter, city councillor and chairman of the health, recreation and social services committee, said they accomplished that.
"I've been involved in housing issues for a decade and no press release, media event, speech or anything else that I've ever done has focused as much attention on the housing crisis in Ottawa as this squat has for the last week," he said.
Earlier in the week, the squatters issued a set of three demands:
However, they refused to meet municipal officials and politicians in exchange for giving up their occupation.
"We offered them an opportunity to have a full discussion," said Dick Stewart, director of social services. "It was their opportunity to have their concerns heard."
Munter said he had hoped to get the protesters to leave in return for "a meat and potatoes discussion of what we need to do."
Instead, they refused and the police acted.
"If you are engaged in a political protest that involves breaking the law, at some point you're going to come face-to-face with law enforcement," said Munter.
City officials said Ottawa has allotted $14 million over the next five years to its affordable housing building fund, but wants help from the federal and provincial governments.
Janveau said all 22 people arrested face charges of breaking and entering and obstructing police.
By Wednesday afternoon, the again-vacant building sat deserted. The front yard was strewn with papers, empty bottles, pieces of wood and an upturned sofa. A half-dozen police officers remained outside.
Across the street, a dozen or so protesters sprawled under a tree amid backpacks, bicycles, water bottles and a dog or two. Some dozed, others just talked quietly among themselves.
"People saw a dream here," said Melissa, scuffing a bare foot against the grass. "Like all dreams, it became a nightmare."
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