Abstract des Autors

This paper uses newspaper reports to document the experiences of people who were made homeless by the building frenzy surrounding the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec. What these reports show is that the ‘Olympic victims’, as they were named by the press, were displaced from their homes and dwellings due to rent hikes and demolition projects related to the Games. Then, they were further disadvantaged by falling through the cracks of an already struggling welfare system in Montreal. The findings from this paper address concerns surrounding claims to benefits and legacy discourses associated with the Games, while bringing attention and awareness to the lives of the people most at risk from Olympic development. In doing so, this paper also contributes to the small but growing body of literature that aims to document the stories of such displacement and extends that timeline to 1976.