On the first floor of the Mont-Carmel residence, Wednesday afternoon, the common room was crowded. About fifty people had gathered to attend the screening of the documentary Ousted. The Elders Strike Backbroadcast Friday on Noovo.
This documentary directed by Noémi Mercier and Alexis Chartrand traces the fierce struggle of the tenants of the private residence for seniors (RPA) Mont-Carmel, in the Montreal borough of Ville-Marie, who have been resisting an orchestrated eviction attempt since January 2022. by young real estate magnate Henry Zavriyev.
The documentary Ousted. The Elders Strike Back receives a very noticeable reception these days. Two weeks ago, Marie-Paule Lebel and Suzanne Loiselle, who have been involved for more than a year on the residents’ committee mobilizing on behalf of the 190 elderly people targeted by Zavriyev’s maneuvers, were invited to the set. of Everybody talks about it to tell their story.
With their usual self-assurance, these two women who have devoted their entire lives to social justice reminded us of the obvious: it is absolutely not logical for a real estate developer to have free rein to acquire a building under the promise of preserving the vocation of RPA, then violate its purchase contract by immediately cutting services and sending an eviction notice to the tenants. How is it that neither the government nor the courts are able to prevent it, concretely, from throwing seniors on the street or degrading their living environment to the point where they will go away on their own?
The affair aroused almost unanimous indignation. Finally, it suffices to have a minimal sense of justice to realize that this situation is appalling—and to worry about the impotence of the state (and the law) in the face of the effective power of capital.
Henry Zavriyev’s business model has been repeatedly exposed in the media. I have often spoken here of Mont-Carmel, but it is a situation that is repeated almost everywhere. Through his company, Leyad, Zavriyev acquires lovesick buildings that house people often too vulnerable to defend themselves — RPAs, rooming houses — to spruce them up, drive tenants out, then resell them or rent them again at a high price.
In the case of Mont-Carmel, the situation went to court. In July 2022, residents obtained a Superior Court order requiring the owner to maintain RPA operation and certification. However, despite this order, the deterioration of the premises and the interruption of the services offered in the residence are such that Zavriyev is now facing a charge of contempt of court. Never mind, he persists, without embarrassment or reserve.
In ousted, the entrepreneur pleads his case to Noémi Mercier. Contrary to what “the media” suggest, the young entrepreneur is not a capitalist without empathy. Faced with the concerns of the residents of the RPA Mont-Carmel, who must now adapt to a so-called “multigenerational” living environment, Zavriyev gives himself a noble role. He offers housing to immigrants and refugees, he explains, people that no one else wants to house.
To hear him, one would almost believe that he acts like a patron: he renovates buildings that need it to offer them to vulnerable tenants. And above all, he insists on qualifying the nature of the resistance encountered at the Mont-Carmel residence: seven people are making a lot of noise on their own, and the media are falling for it, he says.
It was necessary to hear the exclamations aroused by these remarks made by the residents gathered on Wednesday to watch the documentary. It is impossible to deny the bonds of solidarity woven between the tenants, well beyond the seven people initially mobilized.
Still, shared indignation does not ensure victory. Of course, the residents have so far won several rounds: the battle of public opinion, the support of the Superior Court, the attention of the legislator… Except that this is a war of attrition and , in this regard, the owner enjoys the benefit of inaction.
No one, not even the courts, is sympathetic to Zavriyev’s posture. But no matter, deep down; he has no reason to stop defending the indefensible. This is part of the business model: the legal fees will simply add to the expense column. They will be mopped up in the long term by the profit drawn from real estate which continues to appreciate. On the other hand, the time stolen from the residents and their peace lost will never return.
Whileousted makes his way, Zavriyev suddenly talks about selling the Mont-Carmel residence. Buy it, this building, if you care so much about the fate of its residents, he confided in an interview with Radio-Canada. If no one wants it — not the government, not social groups — maybe I’m the best person to take care of it after all…
The rhetoric is perverse and the hypocrisy is obvious like the nose in the middle of the face. Everyone understands that in this case everyone loses — senior tenants, new residents, even the public authority. Everyone except Henry Zavriyev. After all, it’s okay to be unanimously hated if you can still make a buck.
To illustrate how the free market distributes victories and defeats, to measure the importance it places on public utility and equity in its administration of interests, one could hardly imagine a better example.