Montreal tenant 'appalled' after landlord orders removal of Palestinian flag

Kendra Downe says they never imagined they could potentially be facing eviction when they put up a Palestinian flag on their balcony of their Montreal apartment.   

Downe put up the flag a few weeks ago, "just like people put up privacy screens. It was about the size of my balcony," they said.

"And two hours later, I received a text from my landlord asking me to take it down. Not asking – demanding – that I take it down."    

Downe, who has been living at the Rosemont triplex since December, said they refused the landlord's request because they believed the landlord did not have the right to enforce its removal. 

The landlord also lives in the building and currently has a small 'Every Child Matters' sign hanging on her window and had previously hung a Portugal flag on her balcony.
The landlord, who identifies as Jewish, said the flag makes her uncomfortable.        

"She wanted me to remove my flag because she said I didn't have the right to express my political opinion on the framework of the house," said Downe.  

Kendra Downe was shocked when their landlord demanded that they take down the flag from their balcony. (CTV News)

According to Downe, the landlord claimed the flag contravened Montreal's Heritage Act because the property is designated as a heritage building.

"One of the clauses in my lease is that I have to adhere to all of the heritage building requirements," the tenant explained.    

"And one of those requirements is that you allegedly need a permit to put up any sign on a building."   

With a background in policy analysis, Downe looked up the Heritage Act and found that a flag is not considered a permanent fixture, so a permit is not required. 

According to Heritage Montreal, every heritage building has its own set of provisions, but unless the flag is a form of hate speech, it is likened to a piece of furniture and not a permanent fixture.  

Heritage Montreal said this specific situation appeared to be more of a landlord-tenant dispute than a heritage issue.   

"I explained this to her, and then she threatened to evict me over this, using the Cultural Heritage Act. I was appalled at how she tried to use this piece of legislation to silence me on this issue," Downe said.  

Flag protected by freedom of expression, lawyers say 

Downe says they contacted a lawyer who reviewed their lease and found that they had the legal right to hang the flag. The lawyer subsequently sent the landlord a letter.

The tenant shared a draft of the letter and the lease with CTV Montreal. 

In the letter, lawyer Daniel R. Guay wrote that the flag does not contravene the Heritage Act and in fact, that it "derives from the right protected by the Charters associated with freedom of expression, a superior right which supports such an interpretation." 

Manuel Johnson, a housing rights lawyer with the firm Ouellet Nadon and Associates, says that a landlord has the right to add building regulations to the lease, but these must be in place at the time of signing.

"If you're talking about putting up a flag to support the cause of national liberation of an oppressed people, this could be and, in my opinion, is most likely protected by the right of freedom of expression and freedom of opinion," Johnson said in an interview.  

The landlord declined to give an interview with CTV News.
However, she said that because her building is a rental property, she does not allow tenants to display any political views or personal beliefs.  

She added that she has declined similar requests before.   

Downe said they have not spoken to her in recent days. The flag is still hanging from their balcony.  

"It's possible that she might try and take us to the Housing Administrative Tribunal. I don't know. I don't know how successful she would be though. It would be a headache for me," Downe said.