This week’s tabling of amendments that will broaden the scope of its housing bill should not be seen as a sign of a lack of preparation on its part, Minister responsible for Housing France-Élaine said on Tuesday. Duranceau.
Mme Duranceau defended his decision to suspend the study of Bill 31 last week, which surprised the opposition.
In a brief exchange with the parliamentary press, the minister explained that her modifications aim to broaden the scope of the legislative text tabled in June.
“It’s a lot of amendments and it’s very normal in the context,” she assured. At first, it was articles of law that affected my sandbox. There, I extended to other ministries, it took longer. »
In June, the bill affected the Société d’habitation du Québec, the Administrative Housing Tribunal and the Civil Code in relation to tenants and landlords, said the minister.
“The amendments widen the sandboxes that are affected,” she clarified.
Very well prepared
Mme Duranceau justified his way of proceeding by his eagerness to guarantee the study of his bill during the fall parliamentary calendar.
“The bill was very well prepared,” she said. I wanted to file in June because I wanted to be in the queue for it to be heard in the fall. And so that we can intervene for people who are in a situation of eviction, it is important that these measures are adopted quickly to protect these people. »
Last week, Québec solidaire was surprised that 24 of the 38 articles of the bill had to be rewritten. According to information from Dutythe number of amendments would however be less than ten.
Bill 31 has sparked controversy due to the government’s intention to end lease assignments. The details of the changes expected this week are not yet known.
Mme Duranceau expressed confidence that work on Bill 31 could resume on Thursday, once the amendments have been approved by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.
“The sandboxes are widened, everyone is speaking out, it’s just in the normal course of things,” she repeated.
In June, a few days after submitting his bill, Mme Duranceau had already opened the door to an amendment allowing residences intended for CEGEP students to have access to municipal tax credits as is the case for universities.
Improvisation
In the House on Tuesday, the liberal opposition accused Mme Duranceau to demonstrate improvisation with his bill.
“I tabled four amendments,” said Liberal MP Virginie Dufour. The minister, her people have not even gone to the council of ministers yet. Listen, the government has demonstrated a blatant lack of preparation, like its housing bill. »
The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, took advantage of the situation to invite the government to amend the bill and preserve the right to transfer a lease.
“We waited five years for them to finally come to us with a housing bill, five years, and now they don’t even know where they’re going; They are rewriting it completely, on the corner of the table, at the last minute, he said. Confusion, improvisation, incompetence in matters of housing. »
In his response, Prime Minister François Legault affirmed that the question is more complex to resolve than Mr. Nadeau-Dubois believes.
“We cannot, as Québec solidaire does, say: Ah! If we settle the lease transfers, we will solve the entire housing crisis, he said. We have to help families, we have to have a balance between what we give in terms of assistance to tenants but also the incentives we give to owners to build more housing. »