The Saint-Michel Citizen Housing Committee: “the help we've been waiting for a long time”

On October 19, 2023, the Legault and Trudeau governments announced joint investments, in equal shares, of $1.8 billion for the construction of social and affordable housing in La Belle Province.

In Montreal, in the Saint-Michel district, the news coincides with the creation of a housing committee. She is welcomed with optimism, but also with apprehension by a group of stakeholders and volunteers. The neighborhood, which is the gateway for many newcomers and young families living below the poverty line, is affected by the lack of affordable housing.

La Converse traveled the streets of this neighborhood in the east of the city to listen and hear what the tenants who live there said.

“Now we're not looking for the right place, we're just looking for a roof over our heads! ”

Under a tent set up at the entrance of the Café Saint-Mich, it's time for a cigarette break for Redouane. After a day of work spent crisscrossing the streets of Montreal, the taxi driver waits patiently for his friends in the darkness of nightfall. A cigarette in one hand, an espresso in the other, Redouane is unstoppable when it comes to talking about the difficulty of finding affordable housing, in Saint-Michel as elsewhere on the island.

‍

‍

He arrived from Morocco in 2018 with a head full of dreams, but his honeymoon with the province came to an end with the sudden rise in rent prices and the cost of living. An executive in his native country, and holder of a master's degree in management, Reedouane and his wife did everything they could to live the adventure of Quebec. Today, he says he is disappointed and realizes that the promise of a new existence was just a mirage. “Everything is expensive! For me, all I ask for is stability in order to be able to live. Just that. Live well. But it became impossible.”

Father of four children between the ages of 3 and 11, he recounts how difficult the recent search for housing he had to make for himself and his family was. “It really was the cross and the banner! The owners asked me to provide my credit history; I barely use my card. They also asked me how many children I have, even though they weren't even allowed to. I was stressed to the end. They would rather rent a 5 ½ to a family of three than to a family like mine.”

Fortunately, Reedouane managed at the last minute to find housing in a public housing in Montréal-Nord. But good fortune very quickly gives way to disillusionment. Dismayed by the condition — and with no alternative —, he took possession of it anyway. “It's an apartment that was very poorly maintained, it's very poorly insulated. Heating costs me $253 per month. It's indecent! Our apartment is located in the basement, and some of the bedroom windows are blocked; that means fewer emergency exits! It's not safe. (...) Now we are no longer looking for the right place, we are just looking for a roof over our heads! ” he exclaims. Although Reedouane's face seems to express great weariness, the man has not said his last word.

Hitherto silent, Mohamed, a compatriot and friend of Redouane, nods his head as he pulled his cigarette. The 60-year-old, who has lived in Saint-Michel for eight years, also has a lot to say. “Two years ago, our landlord asked my wife and me to leave the house where we lived in order to be able to move in his son who, it seems, had just married. We had no way of checking, but we still had to leave. Fortunately, we were able to find something affordable quite quickly. It came at the right time. Now I am looking for an apartment for my daughter who is coming soon from Morocco. It is pure madness. The other day, I saw a $1,400 4 ½ on Champdore Street. Before, you would never have seen this in Saint-Michel! ”

For Redouane and Mohamed, it is impossible to stand up against landlords who go out of their way and abuse the vulnerability of fragile tenants. “It is not for me to investigate what the owners say. That is not my role! ”, notes Mohamed. His friend continues: “Where is the government in this war between landlords and tenants? A solution must be found.”

In the hairdressing salons and restaurants on Boulevard Saint-Michel, the conversations repeat essentially the same words, the same rumours, the same grievances. Here, we fear having to leave our neighborhood to go further north; now, we are terrified of having to sacrifice more money for housing. Then, there is also the price of groceries that is on everyone's lips, with always the desire to be able to live peacefully, at home, quite simply.

‍

‍

‍

“The creation of a housing committee (...) is a starting point”

‍

In the premises of the Saint-Michel Youth Forum (FSJM), on the evening of October 25, around twenty people gathered to mark the birth of an organization that many citizens have always hoped for. On the menu, small bites and fruity drinks. Those who are there are mostly community workers and neighborhood residents. We are happy to meet up with fellow wrestlers, and the conversations are going well.

After several years of work, we are finally there. Before that, we had to deal with administration, paperwork, bureaucracy and a thousand and one hassles. But today, it's official: the Saint-Michel Citizen Housing Committee has just come to life in front of a rather proud assembly. A few photos are taken to immortalize this important moment.

From now on, there will be an organization in the neighborhood that will defend the rights of tenants. In addition to offering individual support and information to residents, the Saint-Michel Citizen Housing Committee will promote social mobilization, popular education and representation with, at the heart of its mission, the interests of the most disadvantaged.

A founding member of the committee and a native of the Saint-Michel district, Alexandre Boucher Bonneau knows that the hardest part is beginning. “The creation of a housing committee will not solve everything, it is a starting point. It will be a meeting place for all citizens.” With the gentrification that is likely to accompany the extension of the blue line, the arrival of the SRB on Pie-IX Boulevard (rapid bus service, editor's note) and the condo towers springing up all around, he expects the pressure on the most vulnerable to be greater. Defending yourself will no doubt not be an easy task.

Whatever. In addition to intervening on the subject of housing, the committee also intends to roll up its sleeves around land use planning issues. The “Little guy from Saint-Michel”, as he often introduces himself, likes to remind people that nothing is impossible, as illustrated by the recent victorious citizen mobilization against the promoter Mondev. There is also the one in progress for the conversion of The former Francon quarry in a place of life and greenery just like the neighborhood. “There is Frédéric-Bach Park: it's true that it's beautiful, but I'm sorry, it's a park made for white people from Rosemont and Ahuntsic, that's not at all for us,” exclaims the one who is nevertheless one of the most privileged in the neighborhood who saw him grow up.

Mobilizations like these will be others.

As of January 2024, the committee will be in a position to offer volunteer services to Saint-Michel residents. In the absence of premises, due to the scarcity of community spaces available in the neighborhood, it will initially be housed in another room or will operate as a mobile clinic. Finally, the organization would like to perpetuate its activities by finding funds to recruit staff, in particular.

“We would like to be a collective success. Personally, I would like it to be a place of possibilities and victories, and I would like to change the story of what is happening in Saint-Michel. But also and above all to change the destiny of people and their living conditions. We will be able to tell ourselves that there are small revolutions on a human scale and that this exists,” hopes the lifelong Michelois.

‍

Efforts and needs that date back

According to the Greater Montreal Observatory, The metropolis and its agglomeration are home to 53% of tenant households in Quebec. In Saint-Michel, 79% of households rented in 2020, and more than a third spent a large part of their income on rent. In the midst of a housing crisis, demands are coming from everywhere, and the outcry is evident in all four corners of the island... or almost.

Few Montreal neighborhoods do not have a housing committee or a tenants' association. In disadvantaged areas such as Montréal-Nord and Parc-Extension, residents can count on a structure to support them. But until very recently, Saint-Michel remained the poor actor in defending tenants.

For Dominique Perreault, director of the Vivre Saint-Michel en Santé Neighborhood Table (VSMS), it is difficult to explain why. “Having devoted myself for 10 years to the issue of housing in another neighborhood, I know that Saint-Michel has always been a bit behind schedule at this level. I imagine it goes back to the time when we thought that there was no need to organize. Saint-Michel is a neighborhood where the rents, at the beginning, were cheaper. Perhaps there were also fewer problems to solve, although they were probably hidden,” she tries to analyze carefully. It also recognizes that difficulties in financing the establishment of such organizations can discourage the most determined.

However, almost 20 years ago, there was the Bureau Info-Logement (BIL). Andres Barahona, community organizer at the René-Goupil Community Education Center, was present during the genesis of the project. “At the time, residents mainly complained about the unsanitary housing and the abuse by the owners. But there was nothing that existed in the neighborhood [to support them],” he explains. BIL therefore came to respond to these concerns, while informing tenants of their rights and obligations. “There were immigrants who did not dare to complain, for fear of putting their status at risk, and many people were afraid to report. (...) Quite frankly, while touring the accommodations, I saw things that made me wonder if we were still in Quebec...” exclaims the community organizer, raising his eyebrows.

Time passes, but the problems identified persist and worsen. Quickly, BIL is overwhelmed with requests, the funds received are running out, and recruitment is suffering. “A few years ago, we had to put all this on hold”, regrets Mr. Barahona. BIL then resumed its popular education and tenant support activities. Today, we are delighted by welcoming the arrival of a housing committee. The neighborhood of more than 56,000 inhabitants extends over a very large area. “Next to us, the committee will be able to mobilize and demand. We don't want to have a monopoly, especially in a neighborhood like Saint-Michel, where the needs are enormous. So it is a good thing that there is a housing committee. We want to work in partnership so that we can be complementary and better serve the population.”

‍

Reaching everyone: a challenge

Former project manager at VSMS, Yasmine Belam supported and advised the founding members of the Citizen Housing Committee. Above all, she was a privileged witness to their battle. The doctoral candidate in sociology at UQAM recognizes that they are dedicated people, determined to highlight the housing needs of Saint-Michel. But residents, young people, immigrants, immigrants, the precarious and the supportive, all those who make up the neighborhood, will have to reinforce them.

“I think that the community sector needs to rethink its role. Historically, in Quebec and Montreal, the community has been very political, but it has also borrowed the tradition of being in the service — as we see more in Saint-Michel — rather than relying on the power of people to act, to put them forward and to make their voices heard. (...) People need to be able to recognize themselves in their leaders and feel concerned. I think there is something to deconstruct at this level,” insists the doctoral student.

However, she is pleased to see that several milestones have already been set in this regard. “We see several people who grew up in Saint-Michel coming back and getting involved,” explains the woman who lived in the neighborhood younger. Whether through Forward Movements, the Clinique Juridique de Saint-Michel (CSJM) or the FJSM, which she cites as examples, Yasmine Belam believes that it is the young people of Michèle who will succeed in turning the tide.

But how can we swell the ranks of the housing mobilization? West of Saint-Michel, in a neighborhood with similar issues, Parc-Extension, where the housing committee has existed for 30 years, we have often asked ourselves the question and we have since found some possible answers.

Amy Darwich is the coordinator of the Park Extension Action Committee (CAPE). “People tend to assume that, because someone is living in a precarious situation, they won't want to get involved. That is not our observation. On the contrary, we notice that it is the precarious people who mobilize the most, because they are the ones who are most affected by housing issues, or because they fear being forced to leave the neighborhood (...) I think that people are more involved when the issue is important,” says the coordinator.

“There is also the fact that spaces for community organization are often monopolized by more experienced professionals and activists, to the detriment of the people concerned. So, you have to find a way to include people and tell them that they matter.” For example, all CAPE informational materials are available in at least nine languages, all spoken in the neighborhood. “We are also careful to have team members who represent the least well-housed in the neighborhood and who speak the languages of the communities that live there.” In fact, points out Mr.^Me Darwich, being able to build relationships based on trust remains essential for collective action.

The Saint-Michel Citizen Housing Committee already has these thoughts in mind. In the years to come, and as soon as the organization gains momentum, it is expected that only people who live in the neighborhood will sit on the board of directors. While Michelois are currently members of the committee, the founders of the committee — most of them community workers — are also there, time to consolidate the foundations of the organization.

“We want the committee to be a leading figure, alongside other organizations, and to become a meeting place for residents and citizens who are struggling with difficulties, but who want to get involved. Yes, we want to improve living conditions, but we will not transform Saint-Michel into Westmount tomorrow morning either. Then that means creating a living together and a sense of belonging to the neighborhood. We want to keep our world.”, underlines Alexandre Boucher Bonneau vehemently.

Return to Café Saint-Mich. Just in front, a passer-by is waiting for the bus. Has she heard about the brand-new housing committee? She is not aware of, and does not know this type of structure. Once informed, our interlocutor, who is the owner, is delighted with the arrival of the committee: this could benefit a friend who is dear to her and who has problems with her apartment search.

All that remains to be done. But there are signs that the committee will be able to rally the Michelin-based community from all walks of life.

To join the Saint-Michel Citizen Housing Committee: Facebook page

To find your local housing committee: https://rclalq.qc.ca/comites-logement/

‍