Sometimes, in the face of a crisis, the Legault government shows generosity and empathy that have the effect of bringing Quebecers together and helping them get through difficult times. We saw it during the pandemic or, recently, for forest fires.
But at other times, the same government is totally insensitive to the fate of the victims of the crisis and takes refuge in statistics or macroeconomic arguments that are somewhat disconnected from the reality of citizens, especially the poorest.
The Legault government cannot deny a share of responsibility in the housing crisis, which did not appear spontaneously with the date of 1er July this year.
Quebec has the lowest housing vacancy rate in 20 years. It didn’t happen overnight. The vacancy rate is 1.7%, whereas it should be at 3% to break even, almost twice as much, therefore.
In the midst of the housing crisis, we have just had the worst month of May in 25 years for housing starts, according to the APCHQ, the association of housing construction professionals in Quebec. A decrease of 62% compared to last year. In Montreal, it’s 73%.
Obviously, the Government of Quebec is not solely responsible. Rising interest rates, labor shortages and difficulties in the supply chain are also partly responsible.
But we can only note that, since its election in 2018, the Legault government has only financed 4,700 of the 14,000 social housing units promised in Quebec.
A crisis like the one we are currently experiencing does not come without warning signs. But it is clear that the housing issue has never been a priority for the government. And this has resulted, in recent days, in statements that show great insensitivity on these issues.
Prime Minister François Legault had to take it twice to explain his statements about the fact that Quebec should not “stay poor” to prevent housing prices from reaching the levels of Toronto and Vancouver.
Housing prices are based on citizens’ incomes, and as incomes have increased, it is normal for rents to increase, he added.
The Mayor of Montreal quickly set the record straight: there is no correlation between rising wages and the ability of citizens to find housing.
In fact, Mr. Legault only repeated what has long been his mantra: Quebec must become richer and stop being in the cellar of the ranking of American states and Canadian provinces for GDP per capita. .
But what he said when talking about the price of housing hides another reality: one of Montreal’s strategic advantages on a continental scale is precisely the low cost of housing, and not just social housing. To want prices or rents to increase is to shoot the metropolis in the foot. And it is also remarkably insensitive to the fate of the tenants.
The Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, for her part, tabled at the end of the session a bill very favorable to landlords and which does not take into account the main demands of tenants, such as a rent register.
Faced with the outcry, she argued that tenants who want to be able to assign their lease “just have to invest in real estate”.
We are far from the empathy that had made the fortune of the Legault government during the pandemic, or even, closer to us, during the forest fires. This tells us that not only is the housing issue not one of this government’s priorities, but that it was not on its radar screen until it was too late.
The problem is that this problem cannot be approached from a strictly economic perspective.
In strictly economic terms, a real estate “flip” – like the one in which Minister France-Élaine Duranceau participated in her former life – is an excellent deal: you take an old building, you put the tenants out (willingly or by force, or somewhere in between…), we renovate and resell the dwellings at a profit.
Think about it: the promoter is making a nice profit. Its income is taxable and the State will therefore benefit from it. Buyers are, of course, happy with their new home. The municipality will receive more money in property tax. GDP will increase. In short, everyone is happy.
Except, of course, the people who used to live in these units and who find themselves in more expensive and, more often than not, lower quality housing. And until this aspect of the housing crisis is truly incorporated into government policies, there will be no solution in sight.