In my yesterday’s column, I explained the root cause of a housing crisis whose proportions have become alarming. Or the too long inertia of the political class, at all levels across the country, in the face of a crisis which, in fact, had already been raging for more than a decade.
This is not the only cause. It’s certain. Until the much too late awakening of political decision-makers at the start of the year, their blissful inaction was nevertheless the main fuel. By not doing anything “structuring”, the rental market has gone downright crazy.
In Quebec, unable to understand the dramatic situation of more and more tenants, the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, is also a political disaster. So what to do?
Last week, the Parti Québécois announced the creation of its own “national project” on access to housing and property. Its leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, also announced that in April, the PQ National Council would be devoted to “the housing crisis, accessibility and affordability.”
Ahead in the polls for the moment, the PQ leader has understood the essentials. If he wants to carry his sovereignist option through to the electoral campaign in 2026, he will have to present at the same time a platform based on the major battered issues: health, education and housing.
A major political imperative
As Jacques Parizeau said, whose dual commitment in the 1994 elections was to hold a referendum and govern responsibly until then, the PQ can and must “walk and chew gum at the same time.”
Otherwise, it is impossible to seek a mandate to govern. At the PQ, this work must start now. Because no one knows if the fall of the CAQ will continue or if François Legault will eventually find his lost compass.
In any case, for the opposition parties, the scale of the housing crisis is such that it necessarily becomes a major political imperative for them.
We will see what comes out of the PQ’s “national project”. When we add the constructive proposals also made by Québec solidaire, including a moratorium on evictions when the vacancy rate is less than 3%, the result should form a basket of public interest measures.
A summit and it’s pressing
In fact, the seriousness and worrying widening of the crisis requires the urgent holding of a national housing summit. A real. As I wrote last spring, many voices are rightly calling for it.
This summit should bring together elected officials from all levels. Tenants and landlords. Spokesperson organizations. Family doctors. Builders. Social workers. Psychologists. People hit by the crisis. Homeless people. Etc.
Only the current government has all the tools to do this. But if, on the contrary, he insisted on remaining alone in his echo chamber on an issue so vital to the well-being of citizens, he would then be committing a serious error. Both politically and socially.
Unless you live on another planet or in an ivory tower, holding a true national housing summit is more urgent than ever.