If her bill is not adopted before Christmas, Minister France-Élaine Duranceau believes that opposition parties will have to bear the “burden” of vulnerable tenants in situations of eviction. However, she refuses to reveal the content of all the amendments she promised.
“If the bill is not accepted before January, they [les partis d’opposition] will carry the burden on their shoulders when the lease renewal notices start coming in. They will carry the burden on their shoulders that we are not there to protect people who are in difficulty,” said the Minister responsible for Housing at the entrance to the CAQ caucus.
Mme Duranceau affirms that his legislative piece includes “excellent measures regarding evictions”, which allow more advantageous “compensation” for tenants who are shown the door.
The first version of the highly anticipated legislative text in the context of the housing crisis was tabled at the end of the last parliamentary session, in June. It sparked discontent from tenant defense groups because of a provision that would allow landlords to refuse a request for a lease transfer “for a reason other than a serious reason”, an important tool to fight against increases in rent. abusive rent according to these groups.
A shower of amendments
Last week, after a single session, the detailed study of Bill 31 aimed at modifying various legislative provisions relating to housing was suspended under the pretext that the minister must present a bundle of amendments: 24 of the 38 articles of the bill must be “rewritten”, lamented the opposition parties. They now believe that the credibility of Mme Duranceau is “in play”.
The minister confirms that she is significantly broadening the scope of her bill. Thursday, she explained that these amendments modify some articles, and add others. The June bill only targeted the Société de l’habitation du Québec and the administrative housing tribunal, while the amendments include other ministries, such as Municipal Affairs and Higher Education.
However, she does not want to present them as a whole, as demanded by the opposition parties. “We want to submit this in a structured way so that the discussion is organized. I know where I’m going. I have a sequence there,” said the minister.
“Lesson giver”
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay harshly attacked this way of doing things. He emphasizes that Mme Duranceau is a novice in politics and she cannot blame the opposition parties for this blockage. “There is a housing crisis, there is a housing crisis. She’s not in too much of a hurry. The lesson giver on the art of legislation, we’ll come back. We are summoned today. Let her table her amendments and work for Quebec rather than accusing the opposition, let’s see,” railed Mr. Tanguay.
The member for Québec solidaire Andrès Fontecilla also deplores this way of doing things. “As you know, the government had made a large number of amendments. The oppositions have not yet had access to it until this morning. We will begin the study after question period, but we do not know what to expect, and the content of these amendments is unknown to us,” he denounced at a press briefing in the morning.
“Mme Duranceau wants to expand his sandbox, very well, so go and reach out to other ministries. Very good. Solving the housing crisis is a national project which involves the involvement of several ministries, but we do not know more. We are in total ignorance of what is coming, and that bothers us a lot,” added Mr. Fontecilla.
The committee studying the bill must begin its work again on Thursday during the day.