Residents of two adjacent buildings in Esquimalt are being evicted from their affordable rental homes, but they plan to fight back against the eviction by unionizing.
According to the tenants, there are 68 families being impacted by the demolition of these two buildings.
Developers want to take down the buildings and replace them with upscale condos, according to the current tenants.
To fight the displacement, a majority of tenants have now formed an association, in cooperation with the Victoria Tenants Union, which is demanding recognition as a collective bargaining unit representing its members.
The Nelson Street Tenant Association (NSTA) represents the renters in Sussex Lodge at 1340 Sussex Street and Nelson Lodge, at 1337 Saunders Street.
These two buildings are owned and operated by Belmont Properties and have been slated for redevelopment by Intracorp.
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The NSTA says that the association’s goal is to keep the tenants in their homes and prevent the profit-driven demolition of this affordable housing.
Additionally, they say this development is unjust and counter-productive while Victoria is in the midst of a housing and cost-of-living crisis.
“This seems like corporate greed versus human need,” says Dan McDonald, Sussex Lodge tenant and member of the NSTA.
“I have lived in this building for twelve years, and my wife and I are working low-income jobs. We will not be able to afford to live in this city any longer if we have to move out. But this feels like what the Township of Esquimalt wants: to have poor and working class people move out.”
The tenants’ association is also appealing to the provincial government to advocate for them as low-income renters.
According to the NSTA, the two buildings are aging, but still in good condition.
To tear them down would leave the 68 families with few options, as the NSTA says many are elderly, on fixed-incomes or low-incomes.
Some of these renters have occupied these buildings for 30 or 40 years.
“I don’t like this housing war on the working poor,” said Sean Sullivan, Nelson Lodge tenant and member of the NSTA. “It almost seems like if you are making a certain amount of money in Victoria, you aren’t worth anything to anyone in power in this region.
“There are so many people living pay cheque to pay cheque, and these planning decisions are not sustainable due to the wages people make and the housing and tenancy rights people lack. We should not have to choose between rent, utility bills, or food.”
Because of the situation in Esquimalt, the Victoria Tenants Union is calling on the Province to recognize the right of these renters and other tenants in BC to collectively bargain with their landlords.
The Victoria Tenants Union noted that in many cases, the landlords they must bargain with are corporations, and this trend is only becoming more popular.
