Following a stunning victory for the Mile End's beloved S.W. Welch Bookstore against its landlord, Shiller Lavy realties, a member of the community group Mile End Ensemble says that "this is just the beginning" of its anti-gentrification movement.
"After landlord Shiller Lavy's U-turn on their proposed 150% rent hike for bookstore S.W. Welch, citizens are turning their attention to rising rents, wrongful evictions, vacant shopfronts, and the city’s ongoing housing crisis," wrote organizers in a press release shared with MTL Blog.
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Mile-End Ensemble via Arizona O'Neill
The group is planning a "read-in" protest on rue Saint-Viateur on March 13 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. "to symbolize its opposition to predatory landlords."
According to the group, "this will be the first of many events and campaigns they will carry out well into election season."
"Shiller Lavy doesn’t know what they’ve unleashed," said one organizer. "This bookstore has mobilized an entire neighbourhood."
