Projects

Digital Divides – The Impact of Montreal’s AI Ecosystems on Parc Extension: Housing, Environment and Access to Services. April 2022

• Report
• July 2018

The Digital Divides report explores potential solutions to the inequitable distribution of the economic benefits of Montreal’s AI sector. These include alternative housing models, collective benefit agreements (CBAs), and AI Commons, in addition to smaller-scale, grassroots efforts.

Systemic Racism in Park-Extension: Summary of issues and recommendations

• Community journal
• July 10, 2019

This policy brief is presented by the: Park-Extension neighborhood round table, Brick by Brick, the Tiger Lotus Cooperative and the Park-Extension Community-Based Action Research Network. It is submitted to the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM).

Voice of Parc-Ex community newspaper

• Community journal
• July 10, 2019

The first edition of this new community journal involved the participation of Sasha Dyck, Emanuel Guay and other members of the CBAR Network.

Action Research Network of the Americas Annual Conference: Repoliticizing P/AR: From Action Research to Activism

• Conference
• June 26-28, 2019

Two sessions that presented during this conference held at McGill University considered the Park-Extension context or included members of the CBAR Network: Thursday June 27: panel titled City-based Research: How can Research Meaningfully Contribute to Community? Moderator: Jayne Malenfant. Guests: Mitch McLarnon, Alex Megelas, Maxim Goulet-Langlois and Naomi Nichols. Friday June 28: panel on community-based research moderated by Naomi Nichols and Alex Megelas, Guests: Rose-Anne St. Paul (Brique par Brique), Michelle Duchesneau (Press Start), Andrea Clarke (Head & Hands), Pascual Delgado (ACCESSS), and Will Beauchemin and Bianca Laliberté from Exeko.

http://arnawebsite.org/conferences/montreal2019/

Planners Network Conference: Resisting Displacement

• Conference
• June 21, 2019

Emanuel Guay, Samiha Hossain and Alex Megelas were included on a panel at the 2019 Planners’ Network Conference. The panel was titled: Beyond and against the ivory tower: community-based action research and the struggle against gentrification and displacement in Park Extension.

http://arnawebsite.org/conferences/montreal2019/

Pour un 1er Juillet qui ne laisse personne sans-toit

• Article
• June 18, 2019

This collective text was written by Emanuel Guay, Jenny Cartwright, Shazma Abdulla, Vijay Kolinjivadi, Alessandra Renzi, Karine Saboui, Aaron Vansintjan and Tamara Vukov, and looks at the impact of Quebec’s moving season on the Park-Extension neighborhood.

https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/libre-opinion/556947/pour-un-1er-juillet-qui-ne-laisse-personne-sans-toit

Public Reaction to the Festival de la Décroissance Conviviale

• Public reaction
• May 6, 2019

This reaction to the Festival once again taking place on the Campus MIL site was written by Aaron Vansintjan, Bengi Akbulut, Vijay Kolinjivadi, Alex Megelas and Céline Jacob. It calls for the Festival to acknowledge its unanticipated impact in perpetuating the gentrification of Park-Extension, and to adopt a number of strategies to mitigate its impact. The reaction was circulated broadly using social media channels. Members of the CBAR Network assisted in a mediated conversation between Festival organizers and the CAPE.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b6B3O8cLjSv8xIRQNN9-N_L8Pmoxtb7usQUkei9fD5I/edit?fbclid=IwAR2R6AvWOlbYKY5yPRvI10RlvIWIUkO3bTkfpbteHaaqT_Xz4ciOBkULnl4

Linguistic Practices of families using the Parc-Extension library

• Research
• April 2019

This institutional ethnography by Alexa-Savan Ahooja (Educational Studies PhD Student, McGill University) considers linguistic practices of families using the public library located at the William Hingston Center and interprets these practices in relation to the context in which they are taking place.

Brique x Brique research projects

• Research projects
• 2019

The CBAR table supported the following two grant submissions by Brique by Brique. Naomi Nichols wrote two letters of support in her capacity as a McGill Professor and is providing inkind support and collaboration on each project in the form of an RA (Emanuel Guay), who has produced a number of literature reviews and played a central role in producing and updating the REB submission, and as an academic partner, who supports study design and conceptual work on the project.

(2019 August Submission) “Ensuring permanence: Practices for the protection and sustainability of an affordable, healthy and inclusive housing stock” Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) National Housing Strategy Research Project. Lead organization is Brick by Brick. Funds requested: $100,000

(2019) Force collective de levier: logements abordables et inclusifs, obligations communautaires et collaboration. Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s (CMHC) National Housing Strategy Research Project. Lead organization is Brick by Brick. Funds awarded: $100,000

Park-Ex Anti-Eviction Mapping Project

• Project
• 2019

Following similar initiatives in San Francisco and Los Angeles, members of the CBAR have launched the Parc-Extension Anti-Eviction Mapping Project (PEAEMP), which seeks to document the gentrification-induced housing crisis in the neighborhood, while providing oral histories and narratives that posit residents of Parc-Extension not as victims but as actors resisting the current wave of evictions. So far, the PEAEMP has met with community groups, activists, and artists to co-devise future projects, published a first collective article, “For a July 1st where no one is left behind”, in English and French, drafted a booklet, “What you can do to counter the harmful effects of gentrification in Parc-Extension”, and started collecting oral histories of residents in Park Extension being threatened by evictions, in collaboration with the Comité d’Action de Parc-Extension. Numerous members of the CBAR are either core actors of the PEAEMP (Aaron Vansintjan, Tamara Vukov and Emanuel Guay) or members of its community advisory board (Amy Darwish, Sophie Le-Phat-Ho, Alex Megelas, Naomi Nichols).

Homelessness, Hardship and Public Action in Gentrifying Areas: The Case of Park Extension, Montreal

• Blog article
• April 12, 2019

This blog article written by Naomi Nichols, Emanuel Guay, Alex Megelas, Alexandre Cadieux, Leonora Gangadeen King and Rose-Anne St-Paul analyses the contributors to gentrification in Park-Extension, and makes a number of recommendations directed at Université de Montréal, other Universities and municipal, provincial and federal governments.

https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/homelessness-hardship-and-public-action-gentrifying-areas-case-park-extension-montreal?fbclid=IwAR1XQCj13xyviE3ksiJ7BCfd20xawxW2K0i_D3kwUDehBaZFVWbRgdDc2lY

Call to Action Against Gentrification in Park Extension

• Call to action
• March 22, 2019

This public call to action was written by Naomi Nichols, Emanuel Guay, Alex Megelas, Alexandre Cadieux, Leonora Gangadeen King and Rose-Anne St-Paul and makes a number of recommendations directed at Université de Montréal, other Universities and municipal, provincial and federal governments, on how to mitigate gentrification in Park-Extension. Approximately 400 signatures were collected.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLvc3t_qU10wK-Q5aZKmBOiq58M1v2Yw6v2fXe2DqI-lqc7w/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1

Public conversation on post secondary education and domination

• Public conversation
• April 9, 2019

This public conversation was held at the Concordia University Art Hive as part of the University of the Streets Café program and briefly addressed the impact of Université de Montréal’s Campus MIL on the Parc-Extension neighborhood. The conversation was moderated by Michelle Duchesnea. Guests were: Emanuel Guay, Michelle Smith and Leslie Nikole.

Public conversation series on health care access

• Public conversation
• February - April, 2019

This series of three public conversations was held at the William Hingston Center as part of the University of the Streets Café program. The conversation was collaboration with Afrique au Féminin and the Tiger Lotus Coop. The three conversations were:

Thursday Feb 21: Profit and Medicine: How can we resist private interests in our healthcare system?. Moderator: Leonora Gangadeen-King. Guests: Rose Ndjel, Sonia Osorio, Hirut Melaku

Thursday March 21: Reproductive Justice & Freedom: How can we dismantle barriers to reproductive rights? Moderator: Courtney Kirkby. Guests: Millie Tresierra, Vincia Herbert, Liz Singh

Thursday April 25: Access to Care: Is healthcare a right or a privilege? Moderator: Leonora Gangadeen-King. Guests: Anne-Marie-Bellemare, Adina Ungureanu, Gytana

Fighting Homelessness or Fighting the Homeless? A Duty to Assist Alternative

• Blog article
• December 17, 2018

This blog article was written by Emanuel Guay, Naomi Nichols, Alex Megelas, Raffaela Abbate and Jayne Malenfant for the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness blog and responds to November 2018 comments made by Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume on municipal strategies targeting people experiencing homelessness.

https://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/fighting-homelessness-or-fighting-homeless-duty-assist-alternative

Focus group on examining cannabis legalization and impacts and responses involving members of racialized communities

• Focus group
• November 29, 2018

This focus group was organized by the Canadian Centre for Addictions and Mental Health (CAMH) and was held at l’Alliance des communautés culturelles pour l’égalité dans la santé et les services sociaux (ACCÉSSS). The focus group was applied using the best practices identified by the CBAR Network which assisted in the recruitment of participants.

https://www.camh.ca/

For Us by Us: Brique par Brique’s approach to housing self-determination

• Blog article
• March 20, 2018

This blog article feature on Brique par Brique was written by Alex Megelas, Naomi Nichols and Faiz Abhuani, for the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness’ Homeless Blog.

Housing Justice for ALL: Revisiting learning exchanges between NYC and Montreal housing rights activists.

• Blog article
• January 23, 2018

This blog article feature on Movement for Justice in El Barrio’s November 2017 learning exchanges with Parc-Extension and Little Burgundy community organisers. The article is written by Alex Megelas, Naomi Nichols and Juan Haro, for the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness’ Homeless Blog.

Activists for the Right to Housing: From New York City to Parc-Extension

• Workshop
• November 23, 2017

This event facilitated exchanges between Park-Extension residents and tenant rights organisers and East-Harlem’s Movement for Justice in El Barrio, a people-led movement committed to keeping people in their homes, to denouncing bad landlords and to demanding urban planning strategies that are centered on the needs of the people.

The event was held with the collaboration of the Comité d’Action de Parc-Extension, Concordia University’s Office of Community Engagement and the Center for Community Organizations (COCo), with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.