According to popular belief, the current housing crisis is confined only to large centers, such as Montreal or Quebec. In my city, Saint-Jérôme, its effects are greatly felt with more visible homelessness, and it is in this context that I discovered, following discussions with friends, an organization that helps tenants and welfare recipients in these difficult times. Being rather aware of social causes, I decided to knock on her door and I was warmly welcomed by Monique Côté, a committed woman who is also a speaker at the Carrefour d’actions populaire (CAP).
The organization, located in downtown Saint-Jérôme, originally founded by Dolorès Léger, sister of Bon Conseil, will celebrate its 35th anniversary.e year on September 25. Even if, initially, it was mainly concerned with breaking isolation with workshops, the defense of rights and a community kitchen, the NPO (non-profit organization) is now dedicated to giving information workshops and individual meetings with tenants as well as social assistance recipients by making them aware of their rights, making them more independent and supporting them in the preparation of their files relating to social assistance or housing.
The speaker told me that calls for help increased, in the MRC of La Rivière-du-Nord, from 700 per year before the pandemic to more than 1,400 last year! Thus, 90% of the requests concerned cases of “renoviction”, housing repossessions, unsanitary conditions or unjustified rent increases which were not in compliance with the law and which therefore ended up before the Administrative Housing Tribunal (formerly the Housing Authority).
Mme Côté has seen all the colors over the years, poor tenants on the verge of tears or even entire households thrown into the street, who did not have the financial means to pay for a lawyer to defend themselves or who did not simply do not have the tools to understand their rights, to the point that 80% accept eviction instead of fighting for fear of being harassed by their owners.
The law should be changed, says Mme Côté, not just endure a three-year moratorium on evictions as the government has just decreed, because the entire Act on the Administrative Housing Tribunal facilitates evictions due to renovations, subdivisions and expansions of housing or even changes of use such as Airbnbs, thus giving owners the possibility of changing tenants while subsequently increasing the price of the rent depending on the vagaries of the market. Another legal possibility for the owner is to welcome a close relative, his mother or father, into the accommodation, and in this way evict the former tenant.
However, some landlords inform their tenants of this type of project to force them to move, but once done, they do not carry out their plans! The most obvious case was that of an elderly lady who left her accommodation after being informed by her landlord of her intention to welcome a member of her family into the accommodation. On the other hand, the lady noticed, a few days later, that her accommodation was available in classified ads on the Internet with a substantial increase in the rent! Although the majority of owners are honest, this type of file is not an exception, according to the CAP speaker.
Another flaw in the law, according to Mme Côté, is that the burden of proof always falls on the tenant, who must then devote all his energy and sometimes pay out of his pocket, which is often very small, to put the owner on notice and possibly sue him at the Administrative Housing Tribunal, which constitutes , according to her, a great injustice.
Despite all these social needs, the Carrefour d’actions populaire organization is in difficulty. Funding, whether from the government or individual donations, does not match the growing demand for service at CAP, much like all community organizations in Quebec. Soup kitchens, for example, also have difficulty ensuring their sustainability.
But the real problem affecting the survival of the CAP lies in the lack of succession, as we can see in several other spheres of activity. A phenomenon that can probably be observed in any other community organization of its kind in Quebec. Indeed, the average age of members (regulars or supporters) is rather high, which accentuates the need for collective awareness to bring together new adherents to the cause, and this is precisely the aim of this open letter approaching 1er July and moving season. Even a new website was recently created to raise awareness of the CAP even more and also to give interested people the opportunity to become sympathetic members for free in just a few clicks.
Obviously, the recent announcements of the construction of social housing and the establishment of the temporary three-year moratorium on evictions (except in the event of housing being taken over by a member of the owner’s family) give tenants a respite. However, the effects of these new measures may take time to be felt, time that many evicted people do not have… which further demonstrates the relevance of the existence of organizations in Quebec like the Carrefour d’ popular actions as we approach this new period of moving in which we sometimes wonder, where can we find mutual aid?