Concordia Will Host CRE 8th Annual National Gathering, Parc Ex Evictions

Ahmad Moujtahed

Maya Lach-Aidelbaum

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CONCORDIA

In collaboration with the Office of Community Engagement, Concordia University will be hosting the Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE) 8th annual National Gathering from February 22 to 24.

Through workshops, screenings, and conferences, the annual event brings together more than 300 youth to promote a dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth across the country. This year’s event will include conversations around what reconciliation means for our generation.

A public film screening of Tasha Hubbard’s documentary titled “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” will be shown in the Sir George Williams University Alumni Auditorium (H-110) on Saturday, February 22 at 7:30 p.m. The documentary talks about the controversial death of Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old man of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm in 2016.

Ahmad Moujtahed

PARC EX

Parc extension residents rallied in solidarity with evicted tenants in front of the borough’s council meeting this Monday evening. 

Over 30 tenants have received repossession or eviction notices this past month alone. This, according to Amy Darwish, a community organizer at the Comité d'Action de Parc Extension. She explains how evictions are disrupting the lives of community members. 

Darwish: “For many tenants, evictions mean having to take your kids out of school, having to lose the access to services, being forced to move far away from your families and your support network... In a context where there is a serious housing crisis, it also means that it is very difficult for tenants to find anywhere else that’s affordable to live.

Darwish points to the newly opened University of Montreal campus and low vacancy rates for the sharp increase in evictions. Landlords want to raise rents if the influx of students and professionals in the neighbourhood. 

Mohammad Afsal has lived in the same apartment for ten years and he says he is now being bullied to move out. 

Afsal: “They don’t want to fix our problem. Instead, we asked them to fix our problem, they say ok… you leave. If you have any problem, if you're not satisfied with this apartment, leave this apartment.

Residents are asking the borough to stop issuing permits to change the size and use of apartments. They also want the borough to invest more heavily in social housing.

Maya Lach-Aidelbaum