Mr. Prime Minister Legault, your position on the right to housing demonstrates, once again, your government’s contempt for tenants. Like it or not, they are full citizens. In addition, housing must be recognized as a fundamental right, which means something other than access to housing.
In this regard, I suggest you read Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, by Miloon Kothari (February 5, 2007, 38 p). In particular, you will learn that the UN advocates the right to adequate housing, a fundamental right, where it is possible to live in peace and dignity. Among the fundamental elements of this right is habitability defined, in particular, by sufficient space, protection against cold, humidity, heat, rain, wind or any other threat to health, structural dangers and disease vectors.
In The right to housing and Quebec realities, the League of Rights and Liberties of Quebec recognizes that this right is “the basis of the effective exercise of all other rights”. Recognition of the right to adequate housing and a charter of tenants’ rights are therefore essential. The latter must include the rights to privacy, information, enjoyment of premises, and a fair and transparent trial at the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL).
Here are some components:
– The right to privacy imposes a ban on collecting personal information from aspiring tenants.
– The right to information consists of giving tenants the necessary, relevant and essential information for the purposes of an informed decision in the case of setting the rent, an eviction or another type of request.
– A public register of leases must be established and accessible on the TAL website so that landlords stop ignoring section G of the lease.
– The right to a fair and equitable trial must rely on compulsory conciliation for any situation other than the fixing of rent. It must be conditional on the prior and obligatory disclosure of all means of proof.
– The right to enjoy the premises must be associated with a code of habitability of residential buildings, imposed on cities and owners, providing the applicable rules for the preservation and improvement of the premises.