City steps in to prevent illegal demolition

Tenants of an apartment building in Montreal's Saint-Henri neighbourhood continue to pack their belongings, after learning from their landlord he is planning to demolish their building in what would be an illegal move.

Rick Trembles said a fire ravaged the building next to his a few weeks ago, but his Sainte-Émilie Street apartment building seemed okay.

But he and other tenants said they got word just last week that they had to vacate their homes immediately, and they're worried that the building's demolition could happen at any time.

The southwest borough said landlord Jacques Cardinal does not have a permit to demolish the building still occupied by tenants, and Cardinal has denied he is planning to demolish it.

Landlord talking to developer

But the CBC has confirmed the landlord is in talks with a condominium developer who is interested in buying either the burnt-out property or the adjacent one where Trembles and his neighbours live.

Trembles said when he learned in a phone call from Cardinal that he had to move out, he questioned his landlord's plans –  and recorded that call.

"When you demolish the other building, are you going to demolish this one, too?" Trembles asked.

"Most probably," Cardinal replied.  "We got an opinion from an engineer, and he says it's dangerous."

When questioned about the content of that phone call by CBC, Cardinal denied mentioning demolition, but he said renovations may be necessary in the wake of the fire next door. 

He explained that the engineer he consulted was someone who had simply appeared at the premises following the fire, adding it was not an engineer he had hired.  He could not say who the man was or where he worked.

"He was just around, there were 10 or 20 inspectors that came around," said Cardinal. He said that the engineer told him vibrations from the demolition of the fire-damaged building would make the adjacent occupied building's foundation unsafe.

City inspector questions landlord's reasoning

The city categorically denied that the engineer was one of its employees and criticized Cardinal's explanation.

"There's other buildings around that might be affected with demolition, and we don't ask people [in them] to leave," said Stéphane Bernaquez, the borough inspector.  "I never heard about this report from this engineer."

The landlord could face fines of at least $10,000 if he proceeds with the demolition without a permit.

Another tenant, Denise Brennan, said she has also been told she had to leave.

Brennan said she suspects the owners are looking to contribute to the neighbourhood's gentrification.

"It is becoming not low income...and kind of tragically, I presume what will happen to this building is it will be torn down and condos will be put in," said Brennan.