A years-long conflict between senior citizens in a private residence and their landlord continues as tenants insist a new business in their downtown Montreal building is the latest measure designed to force them out.
The seniors at Mont-Carmel Residence on René-Lévesque Boulevard argue a new convenience store that recently opened in their building is anything but that.
“I can’t get in,” resident Constance Vaudrin said in an interview outside the store last week.
The store called Aisle 24 is part of a chain of cashier-less 24-hour grocery store outlets. Customers need a mobile phone application to open the doors and a credit card to purchase items.
The residents who live above the business in Mont-Carmel weren’t told about the store, Vaudrin says. It quickly became a frustrating experience — many of her fellow residents either don’t have smartphones or aren’t adept at using them.
“It’s terrific technology but it’s not suitable for a place like here,” she said, describing the move as “absolutely horrible.”
Vaudrin argues that not only is the high-tech system making life difficult for the older adults who live in the building, but it feels like the latest step to push them out.
“We don’t exist, you know?” she said. “(The owner) wants us to go out.”
The convenience store is the latest friction between the older tenants and the building owned by Leyad, a real estate developer. In 2022, residents at Mont-Carmel launched a legal battle against their landlord over rising rental costs and a cut in services.
A Quebec Superior Court judge sided with residents, but their lawyer Manuel Johnson told Global News the owner didn’t respect the court order. He says the owner was found guilty of contempt of court on eight of nine charges and there is an upcoming hearing on sanctions related to the charges.
Since then, Johnson says many of the issues have been addressed. But the lawyer insists there is an “overall dynamic” where his clients feel that their “needs and rights are still not being respected.”
The opening of a store that many of the residents struggle to access adds to that, according to Johnson.
“It says to me that the company that runs the residence has very little concern for our clients and the dignity of our seniors,” Johnson said.
In response to the concerns, building owner Henry Zavriyev says he’s surprised there are clients who can’t access the new store. He says he also plans to open a new restaurant in the space.
“The idea is not to not let people in the location. We’re trying to get everyone in there,” Zavriyev said. “So I think if there’s no cellphone I’m sure there is a workaround.”
But as the residents claim the new smart store is further evidence they are being pushed out, their lawyer agrees.
“A hundred per cent that is what we think is going on here because these seniors that have been living there, they’re paying relatively low rents compared to what the market rate is now,” Johnson said.