(Quebec) Minister Lionel Carmant shares the opinion of municipal elected officials: the emergency aid of 15.5 million announced Thursday by Quebec is “a bandage” on the homelessness crisis. Mayors will have to wait for the economic update to obtain new amounts.
” I [vous ai] heard since yesterday that the last sums […] announced, it’s not enough, it’s a bandage. I am well aware of that,” said the Minister responsible for Social Services to the audience of mayors gathered in Quebec for the Municipal Summit on Homelessness. Minister Carmant delivered a ten-minute speech at the opening of the summit.
“I am aware that the amounts announced only respond to an urgent need and that we must tackle the causes of homelessness head-on,” continued the minister. On Thursday, the Legault government released 15.5 million in new money to build and equip shelters between now and winter. At the same time, Mr. Carmant announced that the next count will be held in 2024. The frequency of the exercise will be determined during the day in collaboration with elected officials.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Lionel Carmant
Lionel Carmant was eagerly awaited by municipal officials, including the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, who had warned him not to arrive at the summit empty-handed. The welcome given to Mr. Carmant was polite, the tone more one of collaboration. Which contrasted with the atmosphere of the municipal summit on taxation, organized last week in Montreal.
The mayor of Gatineau, France Bélisle, launched a frontal charge against Mr. Carmant. The minister immediately called on municipal elected officials “to lower their voices”. Friday, Mayor Bélisle affirmed that she accepted the minister’s outstretched hand. “Of course, and I’ll take his arm too!” », she exclaimed in the press scrum before the start of the summit.
“I think that in 2023, in a healthy society, we still have the right to be outraged. I think it needs to be done. I think that when you have the privilege of having a public platform, it comes with a responsibility to say something, even if sometimes you don’t like it. And the enthusiasm we see today confirms that we have shed light on a difficult issue, and I would tell you that what we need is to reknit the social fabric,” he said. she says.
Financial commitment requested
The mayor of Quebec, for his part, expects to leave the summit with “financial commitments” from the Legault government. Bruno Marchand also calls for the establishment of targets to “measure” the effect of measures on the ground.
“Mr. Carmant has answers, but he is not alone. [La ministre de l’Habitation] Mme Duranceau must give answers, the government must give answers,” he added. “ [Ça prend] a long-term commitment. […]. Amounts, statistics, but a commitment to say: here is what we are going to do and here is how we commit and here are the next steps,” listed Mayor Marchand.
Moreover, Québec solidaire criticized the absence of Minister Duranceau and Prime Minister François Legault at the summit. An observation shared by the Liberal Party of Quebec.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Valérie Plante and Bruno Marchand
Valérie Plante also called on Quebec to go further. “What is happening right now is not the business of just one minister. The entire Council of Ministers must come together and say: how can we find real solutions to a crisis that we saw coming, that was brewing? », Underlined the mayor of Montreal.
Minister Carmant did not announce new amounts on Friday, citing that the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, “was very sensitive and attentive” on the subject of homelessness. Minister Girard also telegraphed his intentions in an editorial interview with The Press : The economic update expected in November should include targeted measures for homelessness and social housing.
The president of the Union of Municipalities of Quebec (UMQ), Martin Damphousse, took note of this commitment and stressed that an “influential minister” in the Legault government is sensitive to the cause.
Arrow to Justin Trudeau
The president of the UMQ also shot an arrow at the federal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau threw the ball into the hands of cities on Wednesday when he was asked to justify the slow deployment of a federal fund dedicated to the rapid construction of housing. “We are waiting. Our hands are tied because we depend on an agreement between Quebec and the federal government,” replied Mr. Damphousse.
Ottawa and Quebec must agree to receive sums from the Federal Fund to accelerate housing construction. Quebec should receive 900 million. The federal minister and MP for Quebec, Jean-Yves Duclos, is participating in the summit on Friday.