Mold, insect infestations, water ingress and extreme unsanitary conditions. Gatineau renters say they go through hell in their apartment, to the point where they now sleep in a tent outside their home.
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Gaétan and Carole have lived at 1203 rue Saint-Louis for a year and a half. The condition of the accommodation is difficult to describe as flies are coming out of their sinks.
To make matters worse, when it rains, water seeps into the accommodation and materials crumble.
The tenants are now sleeping in a tent for fear that their already fragile health could deteriorate.
Out of breath, the two tenants confided in TVA Nouvelles.
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“The cry from the bottom of my heart is that I have to get out of here. If I don’t get out of here, something will happen, that’s for sure, bad things will happen and I don’t want anything bad to happen. “We’re both exhausted,” laments Gaetan Bondu.
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From her aunt’s bedside, Carole Ménard has been trying to express her sorrow ever since she moved into the apartment on rue Saint-Louis.
“I’m tired! I could! It’s getting ‘worse’ by the week. I could breathe […] They get really stiff from the rest of us. “They knew that the accommodation was the same,” Ménard, who has cancer, said through tears.
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“We’re considering camping because we can’t stay longer. I can’t wait for Carole to die in it,” adds Gaetan Bondu.
A city inspector is on site, but the Logemen’occupy coordinator is overwhelmed with the situation. Tenants, despite their complaint, do not have access to the city’s inspection report.
“We let people stay in these shelters after an inspector’s visit, it’s totally unacceptable,” recalls François Roy, Logemen’Occupe coordinator.
The organization will appoint a private inspector and accompany tenants as they try to move them. Meanwhile, Gatineau claims to have taken the necessary steps.
“We have a very, very good working relationship and the owner has made a short-term commitment to corrective action and corrective work quickly,” confirms Daniel Champagne, President of the City of Gatineau Executive Committee and Councilor of the District of the Slope.
According to a lawyer, the city could follow in Montreal’s footsteps, which exercises the authority to carry out the work itself.
“She could have the work done and charge for it […] “Subsequently handed over to the landlord, which I believe would be the best solution, while we have an outdated rental portfolio in Gatineau that is in poor condition,” said Mr. Mario G. Morin, housing attorney.
According to our information, the owner and tenants received speeding tickets. The owner was contacted by phone several times and declined to comment on the situation.
*Watch the report in the video above, with input from Amanda Moisan*