Racism, discrimination rampant in Montreal co-ops, claim members

Sascha Astles, who is denouncing discrimination in her Montreal co-op, alleges someone planted a Jamaican flag in front of her unit to bring her family "pleasure."

MONTREAL — Multiple residents living in Montreal's co-ops, some of whom have resided there for years, are claiming they are the victims of racism and discrimination by their neighbours -- and nothing is being done to protect them.

CO-OP MILTON PARC

Sascha Astles has lived with her family at the Coopérative d'habitation Milton Parc, near McGill University, since 2009.

She says it didn't take long for significant signs of racism to "rear their ugly heads," including members of her family being called the "N" word.

"My name was written Sascha Caribbean in the minutes of a meeting, she told CTV News. "Prior to that, it was Sascha Antilles, like the island. It was giggled off as a typo at the time."

She notes at first, she was hesitant to make an official complaint, but did voice her concerns to the co-op's Board of Directors.

"It was poo-pooed away as, 'oh, we must have had too much to drink,'" she said, adding of the 32 units, there are five families that identify as people of colour. "There were hints that complaining wasn't a very good way to make friends around here."

However, Astles says she was forced to finally take action after a verbal altercation at a party with a fellow co-op member, whom she alleges asked her to clarify the fact that her husband was Black.

"My voice went up and I said, 'it's not respectful, I don't like this,'" she recalls, as she tried to sidestep him towards the other partygoers. "He said, 'no' and clenched his fists and stomped his feet... So, I said, 'someone who's blind would see he's Black.'"

She says after that incident, she was no longer willing to just grin and bear what she calls racial abuse from fellow members of her co-op.

"One day, when I was getting up early to walk the dogs, there was a little Jamaican flag on the ground in the bushes at the bottom of our stairs," she said, adding she asked about the flag at the next general assembly meeting. "There were laughs, giggles and they just looked at each other shaking their heads 'no, no.' I said, 'I'll leave it on the stairs for anyone to pick up. We're not Jamaican.'"

Astles says she later found out that someone apparently admitted to planting the flag, thinking it would bring her family "pleasure."

The family filed a socio-economic discrimination and racism complaint with the Human Rights Commission in February 2018, but their case was dismissed in October 2020 due to "insufficient evidence," although Astles maintains neither she, nor her family, were ever interviewed.

"If we had somewhere to go, we would have already left," she said. "We have to keep fighting because if we don't, who's going to?"

Coopérative d'habitation Milton Parc did not respond to CTV News' request for an interview.

CO-OP DES MOISSONS

Sherma has lived in the Co-opérative des Moissons in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough for the last decade. Of the 22 units, she states seven are families of colour.

She joined her co-op's Board of Directors in 2019 after she claims she experienced numerous instances of harassment.

"I was told that this lady refers to me as 'la petite noire' and some people are being called n-----," she told CTV News. "That's what they refer to me as in general. That's my name to them."

Sherma states she reached out to the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ), which suggested mediation and leadership training.

She claims the organization is aware of bullying by the co-op's Board of Directors, but has not done anything about it.

"Hence, I must accept being called the 'petite noire' and people being told they are n------?” she said. "There is racism and harassment in this co-op and when I started to denounce it, I have become a target of constant harassment."

Sherma alleges she was even threatened with physical violence, but nothing was done following an official complaint.

"I had to call the cops and sleep at my mum's that night. There was no consequence [for the] behaviour," she said.

On October 9, 2020, in an e-mail response to Sherma's claim of harassment and violence, the SHQ wrote in French, "The board of directors is elected by its members and, in compliance with the Co-operatives Act and your internal regulations, the members can request that a special general meeting be held to remove a member. The SHQ does not have this power."

Sherma says she was removed from the co-ops Board of Directors in December 2020.

Another longtime tenant at Coopérative d'habitation des Moissons says she's experienced racial discrimination ever since she moved in, in the late 1990s.

"I've wanted to speak out about it for a long time," she said, asking for anonymity to avoid backlash from other members. "They have to see that what they're doing isn't right. It's been years that we let it go, we let it go, we let it go. There is injustice here."

She notes when she moved into the co-op, she was the only person of colour in the building.

She recalls an incident where she was shoveling the snow off her balcony.

"They said, 'don't do that,' and I ignored them," she said. "They were speaking among themselves and I heard them say 'that n----- will just do whatever she wants.' That wasn't the first time."

She says things have been tense with other tenants ever since she asked to change apartments due to mould in her walls.

"I got very sick. I had difficulty breathing, my head hurt," she said, adding she lived in the alleged mouldy apartment for five years before she was allowed to move. "They told me I move too many times, even if it was for health reasons."

She insists the Board of Directors has refused to offer proper documentation of her requests, as well as of her complaints.

CO-OP TIOHTIAKE

One tenant from Coopérative d'habitation Tiohtiake in Griffintown, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid backlash, says she was followed around for months by another woman.

"She'd ask me, 'where are you going?' Even if I had my keys in hand... She has a problem with Black people and she doesn't want to admit it," she told CTV News. "I had to have a few talks with her about following black people in the building. I had to say, 'I live here.'"

She says there have been a lot of disputes between the members, often stemming from racial or religious differences, including one incident where she alleges a board member knocked on the door of a tenant's apartment to tell her son that his mother, a single, Muslim woman, was not paying her rent and they would soon be out on the street.

The co-op is now trying to hire a mediation guide to control all of the in-fighting in the building of 81 units.

"The board of directors can't control the wars happening in the co-op," she said.

PASSING THE BUCK

When it comes to potential aid for people who allege they have been victims of discrimination, tenants say it seems like not a single governing body wants to take responsibility or get their hands dirty.

The only recourse for someone facing discrimination is to file a complaint with either the Société d'habitation du Québec (SHQ), if their co-op falls under their jurisdiction, or the Human Rights Commission (CDPDJ), explains Melissa Drolet, a political attachée for Quebec Housing Minister Andrée Laforest.

"If a person is dissatisfied with the handling of his or her complaint, he or she can ask the ombudsman to look into the services received," she told CTV News.

The SHQ refused CTV News' request for an interview. When asked if the organization was aware of allegations of discrimination in some of its co-ops, Media Relations Officer Sylvain Fournier responded the scope of the question was too broad. He did not respond to CTV News' subsequent e-mail.

The CDPDJ noted it could not comment on specific files as they are confidential.

"When investigating in a discrimination file, the Commission's decisions are based on preponderance of evidence of discrimination," explained Meissoon Azzaria, a communications officer with the Commission. "Closing a file does not mean that there is no discrimination, but that there is not enough evidence to prove it before the Tribunal."

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) states that though it provides financial assistance, it is not involved in the day-to-day management of the co-ops.

"While CMHC plays an important part in funding these co-ops, the management of the day-to-day operations of the co-operatives remains the responsibility of the Board of Directors of the co-ops in question," said Audrey-Anne Coulombe, senior media relations officer for the CMHC.

CTV News also reached out to and did not hear back from the Fédération des Coopératives d'Habitation Intermunicipale du Montréal Métropolitain (FECHIMM) or the Confédération québécoise des coopératives d'habitation (CQCH).