This year, Gaspé tenants are once again forced to leave their residences during the summer period to make way for tourists who settle there thanks to online rental platforms.
These summer displaced persons are, however, local workers and entrepreneurs, notes Cédric Dussault, of the Regroupement des Comités Logements et Associations de Tenants du Québec (RCLALQ). And they fall “outright” into homelessness for a season, he denounces.
“We are talking about hidden homelessness in Gaspésie,” explains the spokesperson. “Hidden” because it is often temporary, it forces many Gaspesians to camp, live in a trailer or stay with acquaintances during the summer.
Mia Larochelle is the typical example. This mother left her apartment in Gaspé on the 1er last July.
She and her owners had previously agreed that she would vacate the premises during the summer peak. The teacher at Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles (and forestry technician in the summer) says she accepted her fate knowingly: “I knew what I was getting into. We know we have to leave for the tourist season. This is my second summer like this. »
With no other option, the one who normally has joint custody of her two children also had to agree to let her daughters, who are 9 and 12, live with their father for the rest of the summer. “I change places every week. I live in my car and stay with people who lend me their homes. It’s super demanding, you’re always in your boxes. I could not keep my children because I have no stability,” she laments.
If the forest enthusiast resigns herself to a second summer, it is among other things because, like many other Gaspésiens, she has not signed a lease on paper, a simple detail that makes her doubt her recourses.
The absence of such a document should not discourage a tenant from defending his rights, says Cédric Dussault. “A lease is simply an agreement between a landlord and a tenant. It’s not because we don’t have a document [écrit] that we do not have all the rights attached [à une entente]. We keep the right to stay in the premises. »
A delicate situation
The border between the legality and the illegality of the practice is still very fine, agrees the spokesperson for the RCLALQ.
“For an owner to offer such an agreement is not illegal. What is illegal is to evict a tenant if he ultimately wishes to stay,” explains Mr. Dussault. “But it rests on the shoulders of the tenant to assert this right. »
For a large number of tenants, however, protest seems too risky in the Gaspé real estate desert. Some prefer to move for the summer rather than confront their landlord and risk losing their roof. “Of course, if we antagonize the owners by denouncing, it will be even more complicated afterwards. With rarity, it’s very tricky,” he says.
However, this reality does not prevent Cédric Dussault from denouncing a search for profits to the detriment of the quality of life of Gaspé tenants.
A quick Airbnb search shows that the most affordable deals in Gaspé for an entire unit are around $120 per night for a three and a half in August. These prices can go up to over $450 per night for a single-story home. For the four and a half that she recently left, Mia Larochelle was paying $1,200 a month, all inclusive.
Beyond her own situation, Mia Larochelle is worried about the harmful effects of these summer evictions on the housing crisis in the region. “I am concerned [surtout] of the fact that mothers in a situation of domestic violence could remain there for lack of options”, affirms the woman from Gaspé.
Fears shared by Monic Caron, director of the center for abused women Louise-Amélie. “A stay in accommodation can last up to three months, but because of the lack of accommodation, we sometimes extend stays to five months. It’s quite exceptional, note Mme Because we. Some of the women will even choose to return to the violent partner because they come up against failures in their search. [d’un toit]. »
Camper contractors
Mia Larochelle is not alone in experiencing this seasonal wandering: Vicky Prévost also fell back into this hidden wandering this summer.
Like last year, she and her boyfriend, Philippe Leclerc, sleep in a trailer on their agricultural land in Saint-Maxime-du-Mont-Louis. ” Its pretty hard. We try to stay positive, to focus on what we have, ”she says.
Arrived in Gaspésie at the start of the pandemic to launch Les jardins Taureau & Bélier, the couple of market gardeners have moved 12 times since, including five times between May and December 2020. A problem which adds to the “uncertainties” of their profession.
Unable to find affordable housing near their fields, they prefer to stay in their trailer for a few more months, weather permitting. Combative, Vicky sees a small advantage: it saves them money for their next rental. “We always try to organize ourselves in advance so as not to pick up our pants on the ground in the fall,” she says with a touch of humor.
She would obviously prefer to build a house to take care of her fields all year round, a solution that would avoid her having to resort to renting. But because of the limited incomes of both spouses, no bank wants to grant them a loan: “The bank does not find two self-employed workers with a start-up business very convincing. We understand that, except that we have to live on site and always have an eye on our facilities. We work there seven days a week,” says the market gardener.
In the meantime, they will settle for a small unoccupied chalet when the low tourist season begins, as they have done in the past. Their time is limited, however: the permission to stay in a trailer granted to them by the municipality will expire in a year.
“It’s super stressful not knowing where you’re going to live in a month or two. It’s a basic need, to have a roof,” drops Vicky Prévost. “If we didn’t have the option of having our trailer, we couldn’t stay. It’s boring, we feel at home, but we can’t find a home. »