Bank Block is haunted.
At least, that is the declaration made by dozens of evicted residents, tenant activists, and concerned supporters who gathered in downtown Ottawa on the evening of September 26. In a striking public hexing that seamlessly blended ancient pagan ritual with modern political protest, the crowd called upon spirits and deities to curse their former landlord and the very stretch of buildings at the center of one of the most contentious mass evictions in Ottawa’s history.
The conflict began in earnest in 2023, when the landlord issued N13 eviction notices to tenants, many of whom had called the buildings home for years. Overnight, dozens of people found themselves suddenly at risk of homelessness. What followed was a protracted battle between one of Ottawa’s most notorious landlords and an increasingly organized and vocal tenant movement. Tenants and their supporters were physically stopped, and the high-stakes dispute worked its tortuous way through City Hall and the Landlord-Tenant Board.
Today, the buildings stand entirely empty. While the tenants ultimately lost the immediate battle to remain in their homes, out of that defeat emerged a resilient tenant movement that is actively reshaping the political landscape of Ottawa.
On the Harvest Moon, September 26, some of those former tenants, alongside members of Centretown Tenant Power, organized what they called a “People’s Hexing of Bank Block.” The gathering existed somewhere in the hazy boundary between political theatre and sincere spiritual practice. More than 50 tenant activists, local neighbors, and former residents assembled—many dressed in somber dark clothing and carrying flickering candles—to curse the stretch of buildings just as they went up for sale on the open market.
“Come forth on this night. Before the stars, searing darkness that guards the pure gnosis of truth, I conjure you forth to burn magnificently before me,” Monsignor Babadoc recited into the autumn air while his partner held aloft a burning runic symbol.
Monsignor Babadoc, a practicing hexer, led the spiritual elements of the evening. Throughout the ritual, fire played a central role, hexes were read aloud, and a mock land deed was set ablaze and later passed around the circle to be collectively destroyed. Jared, another practitioner, invoked Hecate, the ancient Greek deity associated with night, light, magic, witchcraft, and the Moon, as a fragrant bundle of herbs was thrown into the flames.
“And I invoke thee, hear my plea. I beseech you to grant all of our wishes tonight. Join us in this glorious action… When their development ever take place, may any of the property companies’ deals be for not, and may their developments or deals wither and rot. As I speak these words, so shall it be,” Jared declared to the receptive crowd.
Emcee Morgan Mercury, a drag king, told reporters that he saw the event as a merging of ancient traditions of political theatre and religious practice.
“Theatre has always been used as a tool to help reflect back experiences to people, and making a big spectacle using props has always been part of religion as well as theatre,” Mercury explained.
For Mercury, the utilization of pagan and non-Christian symbolism was a vital component of the artistic and political theatre.
“I think it’s really interesting to use these elements and other spirits that are kind of counter to the dominant culture of Christianity, and have that be reflective of a struggle against the dominant capitalist entities. In this case, landlords,” they added.
“There’s a lot of empathy from people practicing more pagan spiritualism or worship goddesses like Hecate, and the people that have experienced injustice and oppression at the hands of these larger systems—whether that be in housing or accessing the needs that they have.”
The dramatic event culminated with the ceremonial burning of an N13 notice. Typically used by landlords to legally execute evictions for major renovations, N13 forms have been fiercely criticized by housing advocates as the primary administrative facilitator of “renovictions.” These notices were the very first tools deployed at Bank Block to displace the long-term tenants.
The use of N13 notices has surged dramatically across Ontario. In Ottawa, ACORN, a prominent community union representing low- and moderate-income residents, reported a staggering 545 percent increase in the utilization of N13 notices between 2017 and 2022.
For many of those gathered on the sidewalk that evening, the threat was deeply personal, as they had faced N13 notices themselves. Over time, the paperwork had come to represent a persistent, looming threat to their basic security and homes. When attendees were asked what their favorite moment of the night was, the overriding sentiment pointed directly to the symbolic burning of the N13 document.
When the crowd finally dispersed, the sidewalk surrounding the vacant buildings bore the physical remnants of the protest. It was covered in chalk markings, dried wax drippings, and fine ash. The chalk inscriptions featured a raw mix of ancient runes, curses, and the familiar slogans of a leftist street protest. Phrases like “People over profit” and “Freeze the Rents” rested side-by-side with earnest prayers addressed to Hecate.
Interviews with the participants revealed that the people gathered there were not, for the most part, devout pagans, practicing Satanists, or even particularly religious individuals. By a simple show of hands among the crowd, it was the first “hexing” most of them had ever attended. The majority also admitted that they had never previously engaged in anything remotely “witchy.”
Yet, the event underscored a broader cultural and social reality. When the systems explicitly designed to protect everyday people fail, when local political leadership falls short, and when traditional institutions like churches fail to meet the urgent needs of the moment, some citizens become open to trying anything.
Even hexing.