In the midst of an “eviction epidemic”, Québec solidaire is asking the government to amend Bill 31 to better protect senior tenants “targeted by speculators” and prevent them from ending up on the street.
Janette Chiasson, 76, had lived in her home for more than 9 years when she was evicted last July. She had an oral agreement with her former owner, but when the building was purchased, she had no recourse. She was actively looking, but a few months before the deadline, she still had not found accommodation.
“Fortunately, I had friends, resources and I went forward in life,” she said at a press conference, alongside the solidarity deputy Andrés Fontecilla and the former party spokesperson, Françoise David, in a Montreal park on Monday morning. “I went to the City and explained my case. I told them: “I’m going to the Régie at the end of April and I have nothing, I’m on the street! At the age I am, is it possible to at least have a roof over my head? Just a roof?” »
The lady, who is visually impaired, ended up finding a new apartment — smaller and more expensive — in an area she doesn’t know and in which she got lost on more than one occasion. “Today, I agreed to come and testify because I know ladies who, like me, are going to experience this next year and I don’t want them to experience what I experienced. »
Françoise David Law
According to the law, which Québec solidaire deputies call the “Françoise David law,” a senior over 70 with a very low income who has lived in his or her home for more than 10 years cannot be evicted. Ms. Chiasson was not able to benefit from it, because she had lived in her home for 9 years and eight months.
Francis Foster has lived in her home for more than 31 years. Last year, she narrowly avoided eviction, but she fears history could repeat itself this year. And since she is only 65 years old, she is not protected by the law either.
It is for women like Ms. Chiasson and Ms. Foster that Québec solidaire wants to relax the criteria of the law, proposed by Françoise David and adopted unanimously in the National Assembly in 2016.
Already, at the time, the party had the ambition to extend the Law to a larger number of seniors, recognizes Françoise David. “We would have liked to go further […], but you have to know how to negotiate and know how to go as far as you can. And the furthest we could go, at a time when there were only three deputies, that was it. »
Seven years later, as the housing crisis took on a new dimension, the former politician came out of retirement for a press conference to denounce the situation. “Is it logical that in this beautiful territory of Quebec, we condemn seniors to the street? Frankly ! I call that a scandal! »
Québec solidaire suggests lowering the eligibility threshold from 70 to 65 years, increasing the eligible income by 1.5% and reducing the rental period from 10 years to 5 years. “It’s a political gesture that costs the government nothing,” argues Ms. David.
Bill 31
This is not the first time that Québec solidaire has asked to modify the law in this direction. Twice in recent months, MP Andrés Fontecilla has tabled a bill to this effect, but the government has not acted on it. This time he will try to table amendments as part of the study of Bill 31, which begins this week in Quebec.
“In this bill, there is absolutely nothing to protect senior tenants, so we are going to take the bill again and present the amendments in the hope that the minister [France-Élaine Duranceau] — if it is true in its intention to improve protections for tenants who are hard hit by the housing crisis – will listen to reason and approve these three elements, says MP Andrés Fontecilla. These are three elements which will make it possible to greatly improve the situation of seniors and, above all, to avoid great distress and, perhaps, for seniors to find themselves in a situation of homelessness. »