Mathieu Valade removes the tarpaulin hanging from the ceiling of his bathroom. As you enter the bathtub, you can see the gaping hole in the ceiling that collapsed after another flood on November 17th.
Posted at 5:00 am.
In footage taken that day, we first see a hole forming in the bathroom ceiling. A video taken the next day shows the extent of the damage and the cause of the water damage in the upstairs apartment.
Since September 7, Mathieu and his roommate Jean-François Gagnon have been evacuated from their accommodation twice. The first time after a fire. The second time after a major flood. The air in her apartment is so humid that it is difficult to breathe.
Mathieu Valade has decided to sue his owner before the Housing Administrative Court. His lawyers had an air test carried out at his home. The conclusion of the company Air Saphir, which specializes in assessing air quality, is clear. “The analyzes showed that the air in the apartment was contaminated. This contamination poses a danger to residents. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Jean-François Gagnon in the apartment he shares with Mathieu Valade at 4790 Sainte-Catherine Est.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
The paint from the apartment's walls has been scraped off to prevent mold from forming, but the air in the property is virtually unbreathable.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Mathieu Valade and Jean-François Gagnon in their apartment
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Would you stay in this property? Certainly not. However, according to inspectors from the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district, the apartment occupied by the two roommates was considered habitable until a call from La Presse on November 28. As are the houses of the four other tenants who still live at 4790 Rue Sainte-Catherine Est.
Myrtha Guirand, in apartment 11, has been coughing nonstop since the major flood in October. After a visit to the emergency room, she was sent to a pulmonologist. Michel Séguin, in apartment 29, has to use a bathroom whose walls are covered in mold and whose toilet doesn't work. At the end of November, Dominic Deslandes also experienced the ceiling in his bathroom in apartment 5 collapsing. “Half the ceiling is missing. It is important. »
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Michel Séguin lives in apartment 29. His walls are full of mold and his toilet doesn't work.
No, 4790 rue Sainte-Catherine is not a palace and never was. The tenants are very at risk, some suffer from mental disorders, are drug users or former prisoners. But their living space has deteriorated significantly since the building was purchased in August by Roxbury Capitale, owned by project developer Henry Zavriyev (see other text).
We have attempted to contact Mr. Zavriyev's representative, David Mimoun, several times. He did not respond to our inquiries.
Few reports of violations
The district is well aware of the problems. According to the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM), firefighters have been called to the site nine times since September. As of November 28th, there have been a total of 16 inspection visits, 64 inspections and 7 notices to owner. And yet the owner received no notice of a violation for more than two months. It was only on November 10th that the first fine of $1,667 was issued for work not carried out in Apartment 2.
A second report was made on November 27, and the next day, after a call from La Presse to the district, a third report was made, also for $1,667. The firefighters, alerted by a fire alarm, discovered that important work was being carried out without authorization.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Firefighters have been called to the scene nine times since September. It took more than two months for the owner to first be notified of a violation.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Firefighters have been called to the scene nine times since September. It took more than two months for the owner to first be notified of a violation.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Firefighters have been called to the scene nine times since September. It took more than two months for the owner to first be notified of a violation.
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Between September and December, only one unit of the building was declared uninhabitable. After being evacuated twice after disasters, the tenants always had to return to their homes. For what ? “I received an email from a tenant asking me not to declare the building unsanitary,” responds Radia Zatout, the inspector in the file. Ms Zatout believes she did her best to help the tenants avoid eviction.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ENTRAIDE LOGEMENT HOCHELAGA-MAISONNEUVE
The notice placed by firefighters on the door of 4790 rue Sainte-Catherine Est following the October 7th flood.
The regional health department was finally alerted. Public health doctors are currently carrying out an “assessment” of the apartments that are still inhabited, says Jean-Nicolas Aubé, spokesman for the DRSP. Sources tell La Presse that asbestos was discovered in the walls.
The situation at 4790 outrages Annie Lapalme from the Entraide-logement organization, which operates in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. “It’s almost complete impunity for the owner. In the meantime, he's renovating with permits and preparing to rent it out, probably much more expensively. We make the work of renovators much easier. The district knew the situation, they let it happen, which made the evictions easier,” says Ms. Lapalme.
Over the years, Annie Lapalme has served on other housing committees, including Côte-des-Neiges and Verdun. She has never experienced such passivity in a district. “This is the worst case I have seen in ten years. »
“Our approach is not to provide evidence,” replied Christine Harrisson, director of permits and inspections for the county. These owners have so much money that they say: Send me your findings! » The district’s aim was to “apply pressure” so that the work can be carried out and the tenants can return to their homes as quickly as possible.
“This is one of the worst cases we have experienced in the municipality, a perfect storm,” adds the municipality's mayor, Pierre Lessard-Blais. It has been well managed by our services within the powers available to us. But it remains a human tragedy. »
Prisoners of their Logement
Of the fifteen tenants who moved in in August, only six remained by the beginning of December. Some of them have reached an agreement with the owner and have to leave in March. They would like to escape their building, but can't find anything they can afford.
“I am a survivor,” summarizes Myrtha Guirand. She pays $640 for her two and a half. “If I look for accommodation now, it’s twice as expensive. » After the disasters, she applied for emergency accommodation. “But it was canceled because the city ordered us to return to the building. » Michel Séguin agrees. “What I want is an HLM. »
Tenants evacuated from unsanitary buildings are eligible for emergency HLM if they meet the criteria of the Office Municipal d'habitation de Montréal, initially assured us the organization's communications director, Mathieu Vachon. “Under no circumstances can the OMHM guarantee a permanent place in HLM the day after a disaster,” Laurent Richer Beaulieu, chief of staff to the district mayor, told us afterwards after consultation with the district leadership. “OMHM.
So are the tenants of 4790 prisoners of their accommodation?
This scenario is becoming more and more common in the wake of the housing crisis, observes Dr. Stéphane Perron, public health specialist working as a clinician at CHUM.
Previously, if a person found themselves in unsanitary accommodation, they would be asked to leave. Now we can't say that anymore. People cling to substandard but affordable housing. This is the biggest change I see in my practice.
Dr. Stéphane Perron, public health specialist
As for Mathieu Valade and Jean-François Gagnon, at the time of writing these lines, the hole and the tarpaulin were still in their bathroom. A week after the flood, they met the district's chief inspector, Patrick Roy, and recorded the conversation. “Would you take a shower in there?” It's scary when we shower! », Launched Jean-François Gagnon.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Mathieu Valade and Jean-François Gagnon
“Our job is to issue permits,” Patrick Roy replied. The inspector goes beyond what she should do in your file. You must understand the limits of our intervention. »
At the end of November, after a call from La Presse to the municipality, the owner finally offered to accommodate Mathieu Valade and Jean-François Gagnon in another location in the building.