A hundred seniors in Quebec risk eviction after the acquisition of their residence by Henry Zariyev, a Montreal real estate entrepreneur dubbed “the king of renoviction”. The latter denies wanting to throw anyone out on the street and ensures that he is above all seeking to improve the supply of housing in times of shortage.
Marie Petitclerc thought she would end her days at the Seigneurie de Salaberry. The residence, which is near rue Cartier, her friends and her son, allows her to live in old age without loneliness. Petanque is just opposite. The liveliness of rue Saint-Jean, right on your doorstep.
On September 29, the quiet and undemanding world of Mme Petitclerc was shattered. The new owner of the Seigneurie told him, like the hundred other residents of the 150-unit building, that the days of their private residence for seniors (RPA) were numbered.
“It’s quite a shock, remembers the 85-year-old lady. Today it’s going well, but I don’t know if tomorrow it will still be fine. »
Without cafeteria service or health care, she doubts she will be able to stay at home without the help of her loved ones. She is not the only one in this situation: for the past month, she has been observing the moving trucks parked in front of the residence, taking away one after another the seniors who made up her neighborhood.
“There is one that goes to the seventh floor of the Saint-Patrick residence, explains Mr.me Petitclerc. She doesn’t do it lightly… She’s 94 years old and had been living here for 10 or 11 years. You don’t move someone like that! »
Scarcity of RPAs
In solidarity with the residents of the Seigneurie de Salaberry, the Saint-Jean-Baptiste People’s Committee (Compop) and the Quebec Housing Info Animation Bureau (BAIL) organized a rally in front of the residence on Thursday noon. As the indignant speeches followed one another at the microphone, a few white heads pricked up their ears behind the windows of the building.
“Most residents have a tight throat, a fear of speaking, deplores Nicole Gagné, who also lives in the Seigneurie. There is a lot of anxiety and anguish. »
In the audience, Julien Bilodeau listens to him attentively. A friend of his recently had to leave the Seigneurie after a few years of residence. His move – which the new owner paid according to the law – became inevitable in the face of the progression of his recently diagnosed Alzheimer’s disease.
“People have the option of keeping their housing, but without the services. It doesn’t make sense, they need it, he begins. My friend, for example, is very fragile, he doesn’t really know what’s going on. I don’t know how much he pays in his new resident, but it’s much more expensive there. »
For two years, 22 RPA have closed in Quebec, calculates Charles-Olivier P. Carrier of Compop. Meanwhile, he says, only six have opened. Scarcity is sorely felt among those who, like Marie Petitclerc, will sooner or later have to move without necessarily leaving the Faubourg Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
“I made a visit yesterday for my mother, indicates Stéphane Robitaille, the son of Mme Petitclerc. For the equivalent of the accommodation she currently has, it was $2,500 per month. Right now, my mom is getting off at $1,800. It’s a huge difference! »
“It’s very hard,” laments Zariyev
At the other end of the line, Henry Zariyev is indignant at the accusations made against him. “It’s not fair to say it’s renoviction and we’re throwing people out on the streets.”
The entrepreneur, aged under 30, has built a real estate empire of more than 1,200 homes valued at several million dollars. His detractors accuse him of having erected it on the misfortune of the vulnerable.
“It is false, replies Henry Zariyev. I want all the residents to stay and pay the same rent as today. He insists: 50 dwellings remained unoccupied “for three years” inside the Seigneurie de Salaberry, an untenable situation at a time when people are having difficulty finding housing.
“The only way to fill these units is to convert them into rental units,” he said. He acknowledges that “about fifty” residents will have to relocate reluctantly due to the conversion of the residence. “It is sure that it is very hard, very sad. We work with these tenants, he points out, to find them another RPA. »
During a 20-minute conversation, the contractor alternately shows empathy and casualness towards the evicted tenants. For a moment, he deplores “a difficult situation” which creates “concerns”, listing the actions taken by his company to support the tenants who have to leave.
” We had a open house with all the RPAs in the region to show the housing options, we make reference letters, we accompany families to find the right choice. »
A few minutes later, he seems to trivialize the difficulties that some tenants may encounter. “Quebec is the place where there are the most RPAs. They have plenty of other options; all residences have high vacancy rates”.
A precedent at Mount Carmel
Marie-France Dozois, resident of RPA Mont-Carmel, traveled from Montreal to show her solidarity with the tenants of the Seigneurie de Salaberry. Engaged in a legal fight against Henry Zariyev, she lends no faith to his claims of goodwill.
“He really wants to kick us out [de Mont-Carmel], she assures. I was going there to be quiet, to end my days with my friends. Overnight, nothing made sense, we wondered what was happening to us. Never, never would we have thought that we would end our lives fighting. It is very outrageous what is happening. »
“Technically, he has the right to do that. But the way he does it is immoral. »
Meanwhile, in front of the Seigneurie de Salaberry, a freshly haired lady is strolling on the sidewalk, hunched over on her walker. The steps are slow, the heart is heavy. She enters inside the residence with difficulty: she too will soon have to leave.
“There’s a lot of sadness, insecurity…desolation, I would say,” describes Sandra Côté without interrupting the back and forth of her scissors. Hairdresser, she has had her salon for 15 years two doors down from La Seigneurie. “Several tell me that they cried when they heard the news. »
“These are people who are between 85 and 100 years old,” she adds. Many are 90 or 95 years old, they thought they would end their days here. »
Without a cafeteria, “the majority will have to move,” she believes. “They are forced to go into exile because there aren’t many residences left in the neighborhood. »
Final scissor cut, a last strand falls to the ground. In the Seigneurie next door, several seniors, tossed about by the real estate market, have the impression of not weighing more than her.