'It's a real catastrophe': Demonstrators demand social housing
Demonstrators gathered in downtown Montreal Thursday to make their demand to mayoral candidates: more social housing.
More specifically, housing advocates called for the creation of 25,500 social housing units in the next five years.
Hundreds attended the event, chanting "social housing is a right" as they made their way towards City Hall.
One of these advocates was Catherine Lassiter of the Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).
"By developing more social housing units, we can also develop [...] the resilience of the community," she said.
The FRAPRU was one of the organizations behind the demonstration, alongside the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) and the Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM).
The RCACLQ's Maxime Roy-Allard said the event is a response to the mounting housing crisis in the region.
"It's not just in some neighbourhoods, it's all over the city of Montreal, tenants being evicted, facing major rent increases [...] it's a real catastrophe," he said.
According to data from the FRAPRU, there were more families without an address on July 1 than there had been in over 20 years.
As such, housing has been a key issue in the 2021 municipal elections.
On Wednesday, mayoral candidate Valerie Plant underscored her promise to create 60,000 affordable housing units.
Projet Montreal has also proposed the creation of a "responsible landlord certificate" to protect tenants from so-called "renovictions."
Similarly, Ensemble Montreal's Denis Coderre has pledged to help hold landlords accountable through the establishment of a lease registry.
Demonstrators said the city has a responsibility to address the crisis through concrete, fast-acting solutions.
"Montreal has a role to play," said Roy-Allard.
With files from Christine Long.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.