Landlords

I am writing this as someone living in the landlords’ Gabriel Paré and Annick-Patricia Carrière’s buildings. I’m writing this anonymously because my neighbors are currently being sued by our landlords. They are being sued because they attended or hosted tenant meetings and signed a petition for lower rent increases, and because SLAM then carried out a campaign of pressure supporting demands that came from our buildings. It was suggested by a friend that I post this here, so here it goes. ...

To the landlord class: Why do we break windows? Why did we break your windows (and paint your offices)? Just like every July 1st, many renting households will find themselves on the street. Others will end up in inadequate, substandard, and/or unaffordable housing. In the coming days, we’ll be hearing about the housing crisis. Rising prices. A shortage of available housing. And just like every year, most people will move on to the next story. We’ve heard it all before. But one thing that’s never discussed—or only mentioned in passing—is who’s responsible for the crisis. The housing crisis didn’t just happen out of thin air. People who find themselves on the streets are not victims of the invisible market. Gentrification and the financialization of housing are not natural phenomena. There are people behind this crisis, people behind this market, people behind these phenomena. And these people have names and addresses. ...

The article we published about the Frontenac Active Club last August seems to have seriously hampered this neo-Nazi-inspired group. After being barred from the gym where he was training, Martin Brouillette, from Rawdon, contacted us to ask us to remove his name from the article . . . for the safety of his family. Obviously, his family has nothing to fear from anti-fascists; the problem lies with Barette’s white supremacist activities and his stream of inflammatory rhetoric on social media. At this point, however, we see nothing to indicate that Martin Brouillette has continued his neo-Nazi activities . . . apart from the fact that he still proudly displays his fascist tattoos alongside photos of his children on his Facebook page. ...

Those who make a profit off misery deserve nothing less than an open war. War on landlords, power to tenants. Seen in Sillery (Quebec City).

Tenant rage strikes again! In view of tenants’ day, we decided to answer the call for the creation of collaborative art on Airbnbs, because we’re sick and tired of passing by housing that serves above all to enrich shitty fucking landlords rather than house our neighbors. We will never any longer ignore these new buildings destined only for short-term rentals, while we struggle to put a roof over our heads. ...

Devil’s night is traditionally a time of mischief and subversive activity, striking fear into the forces of order. On this night, the weekend before Halloween, we took the form of mischievous creatures and decided to haunt the Upper Westmount mansion of the real estate boss Stephen Shiller. Stephen is one half of Shiller Lavy, and his son Brandon Shiller runs Hillpark Capital. These firms are responsible for renovicting and pricing out many tenants in the Montreal area in the past decade, putting hundreds of people out on the street. ...

To pledge to join the strike, fill out this quick form . 5,000 pledges are needed. More information, including sample letters, graphics, pdfs, and events, will be posted here . To support the strike, hang a banner from your balcony. An upcoming event, a BBQ at Parc Lafontaine (corner of Panet/Sherbrooke), 12pm, this Saturday (Aug 19) will go over the following points in detail. For questions about the strike, email slam.matu@protonmail.com . ...

This is a call for solidarity and support for the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union - known by most as their French acronym, SLAM. The tenants’ union has put together a picket line for this Friday, June 16, at 4:00pm in front of the landlord offices of 5301 Parc. This callout explains the ongoing situation of state and landlord repression, and why it is important that we, as a movement, help match these adversaries in their upping of the ante. ...

Monday, February 20th, members of the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union (SLAM-MATU) stormed into the offices of Transport Quebec. Any plans for a future eviction of the Ville-marie encampment must be cancelled, and encampment members need to be given housing that fits their needs. We marched on TQ’s offices, just as we march on the offices of landlords, because direct action gets the goods. We’re calling on members of the public, supporters, and unhoused comrades, to take to the streets this coming Monday, February 27th, 5:30pm, Atwater Metro (Cabot Square) to help put an end to these evictions. ...

The views expressed within this text are not those of the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union (SLAM). The following is an account and analysis by one union member. SLAM is built on anarcho-syndicalist principles but is not an explicitly anarchist organization and contains many (if not mostly) non-anarchist militants. Working together has not been a question of compromising our principles, but of growing our strength based on tactical agreement. ...

The views expressed within this text are not those of the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union (SLAM). The following is an account and analysis by one union member. SLAM is built on anarcho-syndicalist principles but is not an explicitly anarchist organization and contains many (if not mostly) non-anarchist militants. Working together has not been a question of compromising our principles, but of growing our strength based on tactical agreement. ...

The pandemic has laid bare the hostility the Corporation des propriétaires immobiliers du Québec (CORPIQ) has for tenants. As tens of thousands of increasingly precarious people struggle to make ends meet, CORPIQ has pressured the Régie du logement to re-start eviction hearings, encouraged landlords to collect rent as usual, and tried to discredit the calls for a global rent strike. CORPIQ defends the class that profits from our basic need for shelter and ensures that many are denied a stable and safe place to live. ...