According to a collective | The parties do not talk enough about poverty and housing

(Montreal) Tenants and people with low incomes deplore the lack of attention paid by political parties to poverty and housing problems, within the framework of the current election campaign in Quebec.

Promising a check or one-time or one-off aid to fight inflation is not enough, because it does not tackle the basic problem, criticized in an interview Thursday Serge Petitclerc, spokesperson for the Collective for a Quebec without poverty.

“Tax cuts are all well and good, but you still have to pay tax to be able to benefit from them,” Mr. Petitclerc first launched.

He concedes that the political parties have talked about inflation and different measures to deal with it. But “checks for $500, $600, $400, the ‘one shot’ as they say, these are not measures that help people in the very long term; it helps people in the very short term,” he said.

To truly help low-income people, more “structuring” measures are needed, argues Mr. Petitclerc.

He cites an increase in the minimum wage – which is currently at $14.25 an hour in Quebec -, a “significant” increase in social assistance benefits, an increase in the tax credit for solidarity and “services strong audiences.

Housing

He is also disappointed with the lack of commitment from political parties in terms of social housing. First, affordable housing is not social housing, because it remains in the private sphere, he points out.

Second, even so-called affordable housing isn’t always affordable for minimum-wage workers, low-income workers or people on social assistance, he argues.

The Collective for a Poverty-Free Quebec, which sent a joint press release with the Regroupement des Comités Logements et des Associations de Tenants (RCLALQ), also pleads for better rent control, with the help of a national rent register.

The two groups are also concerned about the phenomenon of “renovictions” and their repercussions on less fortunate tenants.

Why political parties have said little about poverty and social housing, according to him?

“I can’t help thinking that the poorest people vote less. I can’t help but think that all the issues related to poverty, all the issues related to housing, these are not subjects that are very sexy or that are very popular with the population and the media,” said replied M. Petitclerc.