(Quebec) Despite the arguments of the opposition parties, the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, remained inflexible on the question of the transfer of lease during the study of Bill 31 relating to housing, stating that it was not a means of controlling rents.
“The transfer of lease has become a tool for rent control, because the other tools that exist do not work,” retorted solidarity deputy Andrés Fontecilla to this argument, adding that the minister was showing “angelism” in this matter. .
Minister Duranceau notably affirmed that a duplex owner had the right to choose who would live above his head. “It’s a scarecrow to make people believe that if there is no longer a transfer of lease, it will become the Wild West,” she said, recalling that other rules were in place.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
The Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau
“I would like to know why we now see the transfer of leases as a major problem when we are in the middle of a housing crisis? […] I would like to know what the minister responds to those who say that this is the worst time to abolish the possibility of the transfer of lease? » questioned PQ MP Joël Arseneau.
France-Élaine Duranceau responded that other provisions in the bill would protect tenants, particularly regarding evictions.
Liberal MP Elisabeth Prass criticized the minister for being only concerned about owners.
For you this is not a tool, but clearly for tenant advocacy groups it is. I ask you to have a more open mind and take into consideration the reality of tenants and not just that of owners.
Elisabeth Prass, Liberal Party MP
While admitting that she did not have data from her ministry on the subject, France-Élaine Duranceau assures that the transfer of lease is “an increasingly important problem”.
“We rely on the different associations we have spoken to. Clearly, at the tenant level, there must be some (lease assignments). If it causes an outcry like that, it’s because it’s widely used,” she said.
Bill 31 has made a lot of waves since it was introduced last June. The minister immediately announced her desire to tackle lease transfers, which aroused the ire of tenant groups.
If this bill is adopted, an owner will be able to refuse an assignment of lease for reasons other than serious ones. The minister defended herself by arguing that if an owner refuses to transfer the lease, the lease will simply be terminated.
Last September, Prime Minister François Legault did not rule out the possibility that his government could back down on the transfer of leases when we learned that the number of homeless people had jumped 44% in Quebec compared to 2018. A report from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec indicated that the shortage of affordable housing was one of the causes of this increase.
Controversial amendment adopted
On Wednesday, parliamentarians debated at length another controversial measure of Bill 31 which was finally adopted on Thursday. Article 37.2 will allow municipalities with at least 10,000 inhabitants and whose vacancy rate is less than 3% to ignore their own planning regulations for the construction of a minimum of three housing units.
A municipality may also deviate from its rules if the construction project is mainly composed of social or affordable housing or housing for students. The municipality that wants to use this measure will only have to hold a public meeting. This exceptional regime will have a maximum duration of five years.
According to Liberal MP Virginie Dufour, this modification changes “completely the nature of the bill”. Same story for PQ MP Joël Arseneau. “The description of today’s bill does not correspond at all to the one tabled in June. He is completely different,” he argued.
The Association of Construction and Housing Professionals of Quebec (APCHQ) supported this amendment on dwelling. We must act quickly, our communities are at the end of their tether,” the organization wrote Thursday.