The increase in house prices is a necessary evil, believes François Legault, who does not want Quebec to “stay poor” simply so that property values remain lower than in Ontario and British Columbia.
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“You have to understand at some point that if the average wage goes up, the price of houses will go up. It is a consequence of supply and demand. I do not want Quebec to remain poor so that we keep house prices lower than in Toronto or Vancouver,” said the Prime Minister on the sidelines of an announcement in Sainte-Sophie on Monday morning.
He was responding to a journalist who asked him if the fact that Quebec is catching up with Ontario in the value of real estate is, in his view, good news.
“It’s one of the negative consequences of economic well-being, but people on average have more money to buy a house,” replied Mr. Legault.
“In terms of affordable housing, we have to make sure to help those who have not benefited from these salary increases,” he added.
The prime minister also reiterated that his government’s housing goal is to “develop as much affordable housing as possible.”
He argued that “the housing crisis is first and foremost a lack of housing”, and that the bill tabled at the end of the parliamentary session by Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau contains measures not to discourage owners from building them.
Mr. Legault also came to the defense of Mr.me Duranceau, who has been in hot water for several days. In particular, it has been reported that the Minister of Housing, who worked in real estate before her election, has already made a flip real estate, an operation that consists of buying a home and renovating it and then putting it back on the market at a much higher price.
According to the Prime Minister, this does not pose an ethical issue.
“People who are in real estate, they buy and they sell. It’s part of what is done in real estate,” he said.
About the controversial meeting between Mme Duranceau and one of his former business partners, the president of the LSA real estate group Annie Lemieux, Mr. Legault recalled that the business of the two women is no longer in operation, and that the meeting took place because Mr.me Lemieux is evaluating the possibility of developing residences for the elderly.
“It has nothing to do with what they have done in the past,” whispered the Prime Minister.
Then, to the question of whether Mme Duranceau is really the right person to solve the housing crisis, he replied that his past in real estate “is a plus”, before recalling that his responsibility is to “develop affordable housing”.