Around a hundred protesters denouncing the proliferation of Airbnb housing in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district blocked a portion of Sainte-Catherine Street on Friday afternoon in Montreal.
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They find that the law which aims to tighten the screws on Airbnb owners lacks teeth.
“Before the regulation was implemented, we had around 28,000 or 29,000 listings in Quebec, just for the Airbnb platform. We’re up to over 30,000 listings now. It’s increased, so we can say that the regulation has had almost no impact,” Cédric Dussault, spokesperson for the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires, told TVA Nouvelles.
“While we are experiencing a housing crisis and there are people who are being evicted, who find themselves on the street and who, on July 1, will not be able to pay their rent. And there are people who are using their apartments to do cash on the backs of poorer people. We find that unacceptable,” declared the deputy leader of the NDP, Alexandre Boulerice.
Framed by numerous police officers, the demonstrators first marched through the neighborhood, systematically stopping in front of buildings housing housing displayed on the platform.
Around noon, they set up at the corner of the intersection of Sainte-Catherine and Préfontaine streets for a barbecue, across from a building that has been converted into Airbnb housing.
Here are some reactions from demonstrators collected by our journalist:
– “We have big buildings, big buildings that are there for tourists who have no involvement in the community. It destroys the community.”
– “All the neighbors are outraged, because there are always people partying. They cut down the trees in the back to make a parking lot. All the accommodations are on Airbnb, to rent for a fortune.”
– “All they care about is raising money […] They are criminal capitalists.”
According to the organizers of the event, 500 homes in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district are listed on Airbnb.
To see the full explanation, watch the video above.
