Victory for the elderly people threatened with eviction who live in the Mont-Carmel residence, in Montreal: the owner has just announced to them that he is giving up and that he will ultimately continue “to offer the same level of services as over the past few years and for the foreseeable future.
The letter, which was just received by the residents who had not yet left, is signed by the owner, Henry Zavriyev.
“Your concerns, combined with an evaluation of the entire file, made us review our approach and motivate our decision,” he wrote about the building located on René-Lévesque Boulevard East, in the city center.
In 2022, Henry Zavriyev announced to residents that his property was changing its purpose and becoming a standard housing building. The matter was taken to court.
Constance Vaudrin, member of the Save Mont-Carmel Committee, underlines that “this victory was obtained thanks to the determination of the residents of Mont-Carmel who collectively took an active part in the struggle and the solidarity movement which supported us since the very beginning of this struggle.”
She notes, however, that it is “an overall very partial victory”.
“We must take into account the residents who left along the way. There are also those who, under pressure, considering the eviction notices, signed new leases not linked to RPA certification [résidence privée pour aînés] and who still live in Mont-Carmel. We have no intention of giving up on them at all. Mont-Carmel initially had 216 RPA housing units. There are only 47 left.”
At the end of 2022, saying he was tired of being portrayed as the champion of the “renoviction” of elderly people, Mr. Zavriyev made an outing in the media. He said he wanted the debate to be depersonalized and he argued that his business decisions were the same as so many other managers of private residences for seniors in difficulty.