I was born in Villeray in June 1993. That year, my parents rented a six and a half, with a courtyard and an unfinished basement close to the Castelnau metro station for $750. I fondly remember that vast apartment with its colonnades. Five years ago, I left a beautiful three and a half in Hochelaga that I rented for less than $600. I didn’t line up to get it, I just saw a sign for rent in the window.
Ten years ago I saw friends move into an apartment knowing that the new landlord had raised the rent so much that the family who had been there for many years could no longer live there. We did not understand at the time the significance of such a gesture. Over the years, I’ve also seen friends get kicked out for an Airbnb. I’ve seen friends of friends get kicked out altogether.
I remember watching New York from afar and thinking that we were inevitably heading for this tragedy. But I would never have believed that it would arrive so quickly. Last year, I saw people being “offered” substantial raises of $60, $100, and even $400. On rents of less than $1,000 and without justification. This year, I see friends arriving in substandard housing at $1,300. And my other friend, who is currently researching, who tells me that there is no accommodation below $1,000 near a metro. “And what happens if I can’t find it?” And I have nothing to answer her because really, it’s possible that she won’t find it.
My parents could not become owners in Villeray as they dreamed of. In 2003, they bought a single family home in a suburb with no community. Several years ago I gave up hope of being able to buy in Montreal, even though it is the city where I grew up and where I have spent most of my life. This city, I love it very much. I know her. She is cheerful, vibrant, calm and reassuring.
A city is not interchangeable. It is the place of so many memories and events that have shaped the lives of millions of people. I can imagine people wanting to leave her, but wanting to stay and having to leave is a real nightmare. And that’s what happens when real estate is viewed as a high-return investment and tenants as a necessary evil.
That’s the root of the problem: it’s not just a four and a half, it’s a house. It’s our home, but it’s not our home and we’re constantly reminded that we just have to “invest in real estate and take the risks that come with it”.
I hear that the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal anticipates a 30% increase in the cost of rents over the next three years. I dare not imagine the dystopia that is upon us. And don’t let anyone say it’s worse elsewhere. We do not have to be satisfied with an announced catastrophe. For people who experience it on a daily basis, it is a disaster in its own right.
I don’t know yet what I’m going to do with this rage and this sadness inside me. But I will find. And if you too feel this injustice, I invite you to action, because anything is better than contemplating, inert, the destruction of possibilities.