A vacant building in Montreal’s Sud-Ouest borough became a temporary home for housing advocates who moved in Monday.
And with the Quebec election just days away, their message to political parties is clear: the housing crisis needs more than promises.
“There’s almost 100,000 of these buildings that are freed and are vacant, that nobody’s living in it,” said Noémie Beauvais, a community organizer with the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ). “But as well, at the same time, we’re having thousands of people in the street or struggling to find a place to stay.”
“We want social housing and to make sure that we control the rents and also that the right of housing is it will be including in the law,” said Carl Lafrenière, a community organizer with the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU) and one of the squatters at the house.
Between 10 and 12 people were staying at the vacant building. Inside, rooms were filled with air mattresses, sleeping bags and supplies for those occupying the space.
Outside, signs were posted around the building including one that read, “Empty homes, expensive homes, we occupy,” and another that read, “We are the ones threatened with death.”
Housing advocates say the building contains three three-bedroom apartments and has been vacant for several years.
“Yeah, the building is 100 years old but there’s many buildings all over the city that are older than that and if we take care of them, they don’t just crumble down,” said Flav Choquette-Giguère, a squatter and advocate with P.O.P.I.R.–Comité Logement. “When you’re a landlord and you own a property, it’s actually your legal obligation to take care of it.
“We are about to have a new government and we just feel like we cannot go from like any more years without a shift in the way that we deal with housing.”
Political leaders and Quebec’s former housing minister on the campaign trail in Montreal Thursday were asked to address the situation.
“The housing hasn’t occupied the other governments prior to la CAQ for 20 years,” said France-Élaine Duranceau, Quebec’s former housing minister and current CAQ candidate. “That’s why we had such a problem when the market became really tense in the past years.”
“The crisis is so important because during 20 years, no party political party who have been in power put measures,” said Ruba Ghazal, the Québec solidaire co-spokesperson. “They let the market of housing go alone and that’s why we are in this crisis.”
All five main parties have made housing promises during the campaign. Some of them include:
- Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ): Promises $100 million for homelessness, more rent supplements, prefabricated homes under $350,000, and $200 million for nearly 500 new seniors’ residences.
- Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ): Promises $60 million more annually for homelessness and housing support, 100,000 housing units annually, 40,000 affordable rentals over five years.
- Québec solidaire (QS): Promises $11.8 billion over four years for housing, 50,000 new or converted social-housing units, stronger rent and eviction protections, and up to $50,000 in down-payment loans for first-time buyers.
- Parti Québécois (PQ): Promises to cut homelessness in half by 2030, build 20,000 social-housing units including 2,000 for people experiencing homelessness, and expand tax credits and rebates for first-time buyers.
- Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ): Promises more support for low-income tenants and at-risk youth, while focusing on reducing construction regulations and streamlining TAL proceedings.
Just before noon, the building’s owner arrived at the vacant property alongside Montreal police, and housing advocates on site were told an eviction notice was being filed.
CityNews asked the owner if he would comment, but he declined.
Housing advocates say that, regardless of the outcome, they hope their message has been heard.
“Even if we leave today that building it’s not the end of our demands,” said Francis Dolan, a community organizer with Regroupement Information Logement de Pointe Saint-Charles. “And we think that the housing crisis is something that needs to be addressed way more than the couple of minutes that happened in the debates in the current election.”
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