Conflict of interest: Montreal politicians making decisions on housing are also landlords

A review of financial declarations revealed major omissions and over a dozen evictions tied to just three politicians from across the political spectrum

An audit of disclosure forms that detail the financial interests of all 103 Montreal municipal politicians has uncovered a potentially significant conflict of interest in how the city sets housing policy.

Among Montreal’s muncipal politicians, those who own the largest number of residential units also currently hold seats, or recently sat, on the Commission on Economic and Urban Development and Housing, the standing committee tasked with, among other things, finding affordable housing solutions.

“I think the conflict of interest is really substantial,” said Margaret van Nooten, a social rights worker at Project Genesis, a non-profit organization that advocates for housing rights in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges borough. “I don’t think they’re going to be defending their constituents if they are stakeholders (in the housing market).”

Maeva Vilain, borough councilor for Projet Montréal in the Plateau-Mont-Royal, who sat on the city’s housing committee until 2022, declared interest in five residential buildings in Montreal — a total of 30 apartments, the largest number declared by any municipal politician. Most of the apartments are owned by her husband, Renaud Chartier, or his company 9263-1431 QUÉBEC INC. It’s an investment valued at nearly $6-million according to the city’s tax assessment roll.

Ricochet investigated each apartment’s history at the Tribunal administratif du logement, Quebec’s housing tribunal, and found more than a dozen applications for eviction over the past decade, the most recent having been filed in December 2020, while Vilain sat on the commission. One case was for non-payment of $30. Another eviction was for rent that was less than three weeks late.

Vilain also repossessed an apartment for her mother in 2016, against the wishes of the tenant who had lived there for 16 years. When reached by phone, the tenant said losing her home was a traumatizing experience. “My god, what a nightmare … they’re not good people. They just want to make money,” she said, referring to Vilain and Chartier.

Ricochet agreed to give the tenant anonymity because she is currently looking for housing and doesn’t want trouble with future landlords.

She claims Chartier proposed an enlargement of her apartment that would add an extra room, but in exchange the rent would increase from approximately $700 per month to $1300 per month. “He tried to convince me it was in my interest… but it was not in my interest, it was in his interest,” she said. Permits for the work weren’t issued by the city and the plans to renovate fell apart. According to the tenant, she received a notice of repossession a short time later, giving her six months to vacate her home. |Read more https://ricochet.media/en/3985/conflict-of-interest-montreal-politicians-making-decisions-on-housing-are-also-landlords|

#Politicians #politics #montreal #landlords #renovictions #greed #transparency

Everyone, Everywhere, All At Once

Trust the United Nations to come up with a name like the Global Stocktake for an essential, high-stakes exercise to hold countries accountable for reducing their climate pollution under the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

The formal title makes it sounds like a world-wide network of storekeepers, all closing up shop simultaneously to take inventory. But the Global Stocktake is pretty much infinitely more important than that. The report issued September 8, described by the New York Times as a “first official report card” on the Paris deal, looks at how well countries have kept their promises to address the impacts of climate change and drive down the greenhouse gas pollution that causes it.

The unsurprising answer: Eight years and countless climate disasters since the Paris agreement was finalized, there’s been some halting progress, but not nearly enough.

“While action is proceeding, much more is needed now on all fronts,” the Global Stocktake’s two co-facilitators write, after a two-year slog that had them hosting 252 hours of dialogue and synthesizing more than 170,000 pages of technical input. “Against forecasts made prior to its adoption, the Paris Agreement has led to contributions that significantly reduce forecasts of future warming, yet the world is not on track to meet the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.” |Read more https://energymixweekender.substack.com/p/everyone-everywhere-all-at-once|

#ClimateChange #environment #ParisAgreement #world #cdnpoli #GlobalStocktake #UnitedNations