{"id":26974,"date":"2019-05-16T14:57:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T14:57:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/?post_type=cu_story&#038;p=26974"},"modified":"2025-02-03T11:30:18","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:30:18","slug":"carleton-profs-and-students-research-recent-herongate-evictions","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/story\/carleton-profs-and-students-research-recent-herongate-evictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Profs and Students Research Recent Herongate Evictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section class=\"w-screen px-6 cu-section cu-section--white ml-offset-center md:px-8 lg:px-14\">\n    <div class=\"space-y-6 cu-max-w-child-max  md:space-y-10 cu-prose-first-last\">\n\n        \n                    \n                    \n            \n    <div class=\"cu-wideimage relative flex items-center justify-center mx-auto px-8 overflow-hidden md:px-16 rounded-xl not-prose  my-6 md:my-12 first:mt-0 bg-opacity-50 bg-cover bg-cu-black-50 py-24 md:py-28 lg:py-36 xl:py-48\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-Banner-1.jpg); background-position: 50% 50%;\">\n\n                    <div class=\"absolute top-0 w-full h-screen\" style=\"background-color:rgba(0,0,0,0.600);\"><\/div>\n        \n        <div class=\"relative z-[2] max-w-4xl w-full flex flex-col items-center gap-2 cu-wideimage-image cu-zero-first-last\">\n            <header class=\"mx-auto mb-6 text-center text-white cu-pageheader cu-component-updated cu-pageheader--center md:mb-12\">\n\n                                    <h1 class=\"cu-prose-first-last font-semibold mb-2 text-3xl md:text-4xl lg:text-5xl lg:leading-[3.5rem] cu-pageheader--center text-center mx-auto after:left-px\">\n                        Carleton Profs and Students Research Recent Herongate Evictions\n                    <\/h1>\n                \n                            <\/header>\n        <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n\n    \n\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"twitter-hashtag-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?button_hashtag=DefendHerongate&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-show-count=\"false\">Tweet #DefendHerongate<\/a><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/1WsZqgNf4Sj3fABT7\" target=\"_blank\">community of Herongate<\/a> has been a vibrant and affordable family neighbourhood for nearly six decades.&nbsp;People made their lives there, raised their children there, but that is over now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"A packed room at a Spring 2019 community event titled: Evicted from Home? The (White) Right to the City and the Struggle for Herongate\" class=\"wp-image-33259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Unknown-2-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>A packed room at a Spring 2019 community event titled: Evicted from Home? The (White) Right to the City and the Struggle for Herongate<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A packed room at a Spring 2019 community event titled: Evicted from Home? The (White) Right to the City and the Struggle for Herongate<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have been a resident of Herongate for five years, and it is a beautiful place to live,\u201d Herongate resident, Tammy Mast, said at a late April panel event titled <em><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/cu-events\/evicted-from-home-the-white-right-to-the-city-and-the-struggle-for-herongate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evicted from Home? The (White) Right to the City and the Struggle for Herongate<\/a><\/em> held by members of the Carleton community and <a href=\"https:\/\/herongatetenants.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Herongate Tenant Coalition<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since being acquired by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timbercreek.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Timbercreek<\/a> in 2012, a company self-described as \u201can active investor, owner and manager of global real estate and related assets focused on delivering sustainable and growing returns to our investors,\u201d nearly all 236 affordable townhouse rental units have been destroyed in preparation for exclusive luxury apartments.&nbsp; Recognizing the growing enchantment of the upper class for the Alta Vista area and the potential profit margins, critics say Timbercreek\u2019s redevelopment has left hundreds of low-income families scrambling for new housing and mourning the loss of their distinctive Herongate community.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose cu-quote cu-component-spacing\">\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>All of this begs the question: Why, in the capital of Canada, has this been able to happen?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn 2002, I moved to Ottawa from Alberta,\u201d says Mast. \u201cI lived in a number of neighbourhoods around Ottawa, but it wasn&#8217;t until I moved to Herongate in 2014 that Ottawa really began to feel like home. This is despite the fact that I am demographically and culturally very different from most of my neighbours here in Herongate &#8211;&nbsp;a true demonstration that Herongate is a vibrant and welcoming community. For a lot of terrible reasons like systemic racism and corporate efforts to dictate a narrative that serves their own interests, there existed an outsider stigma about this place, but that is a sham.&nbsp; Herongate was wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under current trends, the \u201cprice of doing business\u201d for corporations like Timbercreek are increasingly paid by low-income and racialized tenants across Canada. Before the evictions in September 2018, this was a community disproportionately comprised of recent immigrants and racialized people in Canada\u2019s capital. Remarkably, 90 per cent of the 500 family members evicted from Herongate last year &nbsp;were visible minorities. Now only rubble remains after the speedy demolition of the Herongate townhouses between Baycrest and Sandalwood along Heron Road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"carleton-profs-work-in-collaboration-with-residents-and-herongate-tenant-coalition\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Carleton Profs Work in Collaboration with Residents and Herongate Tenant Coalition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Carleton professors <a href=\"http:\/\/jacquelinekennelly.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jacqueline Kennelly<\/a>, Department of <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/socanth\/people\/kennelly-jacqueline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sociology and Anthropology<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/geography\/people\/jennifer-ridgley\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jennifer Ridgley<\/a>, Department of <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/geography\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Geography and Environmental Studies<\/a>, have been working in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/herongatetc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Herongate Tenant Coalition<\/a> and evicted residents on researching the causes and consequences of what has been termed the \u201cdemo-viction\u201d (demolition-driven eviction) of the Herongate residents by Timbercreek Asset Management Corp.&nbsp;They are also examiningthe role of the <a href=\"https:\/\/ottawa.ca\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">City of Ottawa<\/a> in facilitating and enabling those evictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been working on housing and homelessness issues in Canada and the UK for over a decade,\u201d says Kennelly. \u201cI live in Alta Vista, across the road from Herongate. When I found out what was happening, I got in touch with the Herongate Tenant Coalition. We began to talk about what Carleton could do to support their advocacy work and shed light on the issues that led to this abuse of human rights, practically in the backyard of Canada\u2019s seat of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Professor Jackie Kennelly\" class=\"wp-image-33261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-009-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Professor Jackie Kennelly<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While it is, of course, legal to purchase property and then evict, it is lawfully required in Canada that the developer do what is necessary to preserve social and racial composition up to the point of preventable suffering. Landlords must also maintain sufficient accommodation for their tenants \u2014 the right to adequate housing is, after all, a human right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A recent human rights complaint launched by 14 former Herongate residents with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sjto.gov.on.ca\/hrto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ontario Human Rights Tribunal<\/a> against both Timbercreek and the City of Ottawa argues that neither party fulfilled this legal and ethical obligation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The complaint says &nbsp;that Timbercreek engaged in racially discriminatory practices and that they strategically allowed their units to deteriorate into a state of disrepair (while occupied by paying tenants) to justify demolition, with the complicity of the City of Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"not-prose cu-quote cu-component-spacing\">\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>As a society, we need to prioritize housing as a human right<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>According to the complaint, the City of Ottawa\u2019s actions, or lack thereof, mean they bear considerable responsibility for the destruction of a vital and vibrant community for systemically disadvantaged people in a housing market unwilling to cater to those with lower wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Research indicates that the average income of households in the Herongate community is $41,000 annually before taxes.&nbsp; Simply put, evicting Herongate residents means that Timbercreek likely sent at least some of them into homelessness, critics say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe social housing registry in the City of Ottawa has a 10-year waiting list for family units and Ottawa, like the rest of Canada, is in the midst of a growing homelessness crisis. The fastest growing homeless population in the city is families, according to the city\u2019s own statistics,\u201d explains Kennelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"the-system-is-powerful-and-discriminatory\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The System is Powerful and Discriminatory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Panelist at the <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/cu-events\/evicted-from-home-the-white-right-to-the-city-and-the-struggle-for-herongate\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Evicted from Home?<\/em> event<\/a>, Prof. <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.concordia.ca\/faculty\/ted-rutland.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ted Rutland<\/a> in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University and story_intro_author of <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/utorontopress.com\/us\/displacing-blackness-2\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Displacing Blackness: Planning,&nbsp;Power, and Race in Twentieth-century Halifax<\/em><\/a>, informed the at-capacity audience that Herongate has become an international case study of the insolent way in which corporations work in tandem with a complicit and racist state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Panel from left to right: Catherine McKenney, City Councillor for Somerset Ward and Council Liaison for Housing and Homelessness; Ted Rutland, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University and story_intro_author of Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-century Halifax; Mumina Egal, a community organizer in the community, and a member of the Herongate Tenant Coalition; Claire, a tenant organizer from Montreal.\" class=\"wp-image-33262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-039-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Panel from left to right: Catherine McKenney, City Councillor for Somerset Ward and Council Liaison for Housing and Homelessness; Ted Rutland, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment at Concordia University and story_intro_author of&nbsp;Displacing Blackness: Planning, Power, and Race in Twentieth-century Halifax; Mumina Egal, a community organizer in the community, and a member of the Herongate Tenant Coalition; Claire, a tenant organizer from Montreal.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe poor and racialized live in horrible conditions, thanks to uncaring property owners, for years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey keep the space cheap for landlords until gentrification and enterprise is ready to occur, then they\u2019re kicked to the curb.&nbsp; Herongate is similar to what we\u2019ve seen in Harlem over the last 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alarmingly, there exists so little societal and bureaucratic pressure that Timbercreek did not even feel the need to conceal their plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was pretty obvious what the developer was doing,\u201d says a neighbour close to the community who asked to remain anonymous.&nbsp; \u201cI\u2019ve lived here for a long time and over the past few years, I began to notice lawns in Herongate were unkept, shingles were peeling back, and trash cans weren\u2019t emptied.&nbsp;The windows and screen doors on all the units were also quite obviously in a state of disarray and needed repair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mumina Egal, a community organizer and a member of the Herongate Tenant Coalition, explained at the April event that many residences had significantly cracked windows, so occupants &nbsp;were freezing cold through the winters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cResidents were forced to live in unlivable conditions, all thanks to Timbercreek\u2019s successful pursuit to justify the ruin of our community,\u201d says Egal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere were hundreds of complaints from residents to Timbercreek on everything from broken doors to bug infestations.&nbsp; Nearly all went unanswered, and there was no on-the-ground response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A student in Prof. Kennelly\u2019s graduate course <a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/socanth\/courses\/sociology\/sociology-graduate-courses\/soci-5806w-0-5-credit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>SOCI 5806: Urban Inequality<\/em><\/a>, Hanna Stewart, says she uncovered in her research that when Timbercreek did decide to respond, staff exhibited a shocking impertinence. Stewart found that Herongate residents experienced Timbercreek staff as disrespectful, particularly to the non-English speaking tenants who told stories of being patronized and pressured to move without knowing their rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research of Olivia Stavretis, another student in Kennelly\u2019s graduate course, explains that provincial and municipal policies relating to landlord-tenant relations are vague and not accessible to tenants. This empowers corporate landlords like Timbercreek to circumvent their obligations to maintain units, and to get away with inflating the cost of rent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this begs the question: Why, in the capital of Canada, has this been able to happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur research raises important questions about the role that racism and stigma play in the development processes here in Ottawa,\u201d says Prof. Ridgley. \u201cWhy were the landlords permitted to ignore basic maintenance responsibilities and disrespect residents for so long? Why has there been so little public outcry in the rest of the city?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.catherinemckenney.ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Catherine McKenney<\/a>, city councillor for Somerset Ward (<em>not&nbsp;<\/em>Herongate\u2019s Ward) and council liaison for Housing and Homelessness was also a panelist at the <em>Evicted from Home?<\/em> event, and she followed the same line of interrogation as Ridgley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Ottawa area floods are tragic and important, but compare the non-stop media coverage and political attention of the flooding of these waterfront properties to the minimal coverage of the December 2018 Vanier fire which had life-altering consequences for more than 200 low-income residents.&nbsp; There\u2019s a stark difference,\u201d says Councillor McKenney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"Councillor McKenney shares her thoughts on Herongate and what it says about and means for the City of the Ottawa.  \" class=\"wp-image-33264\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-035-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Councillor McKenney shares her thoughts on Herongate and what it says about and means for the City of the Ottawa.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So much has been unjustly taken from people without the means to adequately defend themselves and, in large part, they are silenced by potent forces, critics say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn neighbourhoods like Herongate, poor and working-class people and immigrants come together to support each other, often in the face of neglect from the city and exploitation by landlords.&nbsp; We have heard stories of residents helping each other with child care, translation, transportation, and all kinds of financial, social and emotional supports that help create vibrant and healthy communities,\u201d says Ridgley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn addition to people losing their homes, these supports are also being disrupted when mass evictions occur, causing considerable mental and physical harm through humiliation, uncertainty, and grief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Professor Jennifer Ridgley \n\" class=\"wp-image-33265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-007-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Professor Jennifer Ridgley&nbsp;<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Graduate student Charlotte Smith\u2019s research points out the profound impact the Herongate expulsions will have on children.&nbsp; Smith\u2019s work reveals that local schools were aware of the evictions but did not take any specific measures to support affected students. This is part of a larger problem of schools not being equipped to respond to youth who are homeless or facing homelessness, despite the stated policy goals of school boards and the Ministry of Education to support the \u201cwhole student\u201d and be mindful of other issues such as mental health challenges, bullying, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is likely that bold-faced theft of a necessary community would have gone almost entirely unnoticed without the relentless work of groups like the Herongate Tenant Coalition and other concerned and in-the-know citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ridgley reminds us that it is important to appreciate that this is happening to neighbours in our own backyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is an issue that is impacting the Carleton University community directly. Some of my students lived and grew up in the neighbourhood, and I have students who are actively supporting friends and family members who are struggling because of these evictions. It is something all of us at Carleton should be concerned about,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"799\" height=\"591\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-5.jpg\" alt=\"A sign made by young residents of Herongate.\" class=\"wp-image-33266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-5.jpg 799w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-5-200x148.jpg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-5-400x296.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/Herongate-5-768x568.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><figcaption><em>A sign made by young residents of Herongate.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"timbercreeks-response-to-advocacy-for-evicted-residents\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Timbercreek\u2019s Response to Advocacy for Evicted Residents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTimbercreek is now promising <em>up to&nbsp;<\/em>20 per cent affordable housing in the redevelopment, offering it as a \u2018social contract\u2019 that is not legally binding,\u201d says Prof. Kennelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is likely the result of the global outcry that these demo-victions spurred, thanks in large part to the organizing work of the small but mighty Herongate Tenant Coalition. The Herongate evictions are now featured in a recent documentary created by UN Special Rapporteur on Affordable Housing, Leilani Farha. They have been reported on by media from across Canada and in the United States and by global media giant, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2019\/04\/canada-evicted-ottawa-residents-file-human-rights-complaint-190403155450092.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Al-Jazeera<\/a>,\u201d says Kennelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A student in Kennelly\u2019s course, Andy Crosby, discovered Timbercreek lawyers sent a legal letter to Twitter asking the popular social media site to disable the Herongate Tenant Coalition&#8217;s account. In the letter, Timbercreek&#8217;s lawyers described Coalition members&nbsp;as &#8220;unstable, unhinged, and extremist.&#8221;&nbsp; This kind of incendiary language deepens the racist stigma already faced by the neighbourhood.&nbsp; Criminalizing the Herongate Tenant Coalition has been one of their overarching approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-1024x683.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-200x133.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-400x267.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2019-04-27-Carleton-Herongate-003-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"the-larger-consequences-of-gentrification-in-the-nations-capital\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Larger Consequences of Gentrification in the Nation\u2019s Capital<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Herongate evictions are a vicious uppercut in the greater fight for affordable housing in Ottawa and Canada, says Kennelly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe City of Ottawa has a 10-year plan to end homelessness, which they are in the process of renewing. So far, it hasn\u2019t been working. While they\u2019re housing chronically homeless people at higher rates than ever before, there is very little happening to stem the flow of people into homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese evictions should never have happened in a city like Ottawa. Rental availability is at an all-time low, housing and rental prices are sky-rocketing, and yet the city allowed 150 affordable townhouses to be demolished? It makes no sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timbercreekcommunities.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Timbercreek\u2019s website<\/a> states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe maximize value by employing a value-oriented investment philosophy combined with an active, hands-on asset management platform, to identify opportunities that will generate predictable and sustainable long-term cash flow. We have earned a reputation for providing conservatively managed, risk-averse investment opportunities for both retail and institutional investors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs a society, we need to prioritize housing as a human right,\u201d says Kennelly. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be approaching it as an investment opportunity, and we absolutely cannot rely on investment firms to provide affordable housing. Ensuring a sufficient stock of affordable housing ought to be the job of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In her opening remarks at the <em>Evicted from Home? The (White) Right to the City and the Struggle for Herongate <\/em>event, Prof. Ridgley began by acknowledging that the event was occurring on the traditional unceded territories of the Algonquin people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would like to invite everyone to pause for a moment to reflect on how that might shape our understanding, our research, our organizing work, and our responses to the mass evictions and displacement of the Herongate community \u2013 a largely working class, racialized and immigrant community,\u201d said Ridgley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a class=\"twitter-timeline\" data-width=\"500\" data-height=\"750\" data-dnt=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/herongatetc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">Tweets by herongatetc<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In collaboration with the Herongate Tenant Coalition, members of the Carleton community are conducting research and organizing community events to determine the causes and consequences of a mass eviction of racialized families from their long-standing low-income community, which will be replaced with luxurious resort-style apartments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[593,588,574,589],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-26974","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-event-highlights","cu_story_type-fassinate-2019","cu_story_type-geography","cu_story_type-sociology-and-anthropology"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/26974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/26974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38247,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/26974\/revisions\/38247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=26974"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/fass\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=26974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}