Vote Yes to the CSU Housing Referendum Question

LettersKyle McLoughlin — Published November 25, 2014

Soon problems began to occur. Windows didn’t open, the shower never really stopped running and in the winter my upstairs neighbour’s pipes burst and flooded my bathroom.

Using any electrical appliance meant all of the lights would flicker and dim and the oven was twice as old as I. When I signed the lease my landlord asked me for three months of rent up front, even going as far to write a clause saying that I agreed to the deposit.

I hated my first apartment in Montreal; it was a rushed decision based on having a week in February to find a place to live for July and having no information on what my rights were. I chalked it up as a one-off bit of bad luck—that I was played by the slick promises of an unsavory landlord.

Many years and apartments later I work for the CSU Off-Campus Housing and Job Bank and found my experience to be more of the norm. Every day I see the consequences of the city’s inadequate housing in peoples’ lives.

I say people, not students, because attending Concordia is just one aspect of the life of each person who comes into our office. We are students, but also parents, workers, caregivers and friends. Inadequate housing affects each of these identities that encompass our whole being.

After a long day of working, studying, giving care and raising families each Concordia student should be able to go to a safe, healthy and affordable home.

As it stands now this issue is hardly on the radar.

There is no reason that we must settle for inadequate and crowded housing. We can use our identities as students as a point of reference to build the world we want to live in now.

We do not need to wait. Voting yes on the CSU referendum question to support student-housing initiatives will be the first step to making a tangible difference in the life of our community.