There is no single solution – or two or three – that will solve the housing and homelessness crises alone. But to know what to do, the method is quite simple. Decision-makers should lock themselves in a room, lock the door and swallow the key.
The summit on homelessness taking place this Friday in Quebec should not be exceptional. We need more of such meetings, both for homelessness and for housing. Because seen from the outside, an impression of disorder emerges.
This is not a column about who should do what and when. I simply want to explain how better coordination and better definition of roles would avoid many of the current failures identified by experts.
It would be too easy to portray the new generation of mayors as progressive heroes fighting against Ottawa and Quebec.
The mayor of Quebec aims for “zero homelessness”. This is commendable. But as with climate, the targets don’t mean much. What matters is the plan to get there.
For the moment, we are seeing plans promoted separately by municipalities, provinces and the federal government.
In 2017, the Trudeau government announced its housing strategy, with a budget of 40 billion spread over 10 years. As usual, it took years before the federal government came to an agreement with the provinces to distribute the envelopes. And then, it remained to transfer these sums to the municipalities. For example, cities say they have reserved land for future housing, but are waiting for money to begin work.
Another symptom of this slowness: on Thursday, Justin Trudeau announced the abolition of the GST for the construction of rental buildings. The problem: he promised it in 2015… It took eight years to move. It would have been less interminable if the Liberals had chatted at the same coffee machine as the provinces and municipalities.
Mr. Trudeau has criticized cities for discouraging housing construction because of their bureaucracy, and he is not wrong.
With its 20-20-20 regulation which requires a quota of affordable, social and family housing in new construction, Montreal has increased construction costs, and therefore encouraged developers to look elsewhere or do nothing. In addition to the various fees levied on developers, the waiting times to obtain a permit are long. As revealed by Montreal JournalMayor Valérie Plante has built three times less affordable housing than she claims.
But if municipalities impose these constraints, it is also to compensate for their shortfall. Their responsibilities have continued to increase since the early 1990s. They depend on property taxes. Having only this tool, they use it to hit everywhere.
We cannot therefore criticize this bureaucracy without linking it to provincial funding. Tax reform is complex. It will not be resolved in a few weeks. But at a minimum, Quebec could establish new density criteria. This would protect mayors the next time a handful of citizens try to block a real estate project integrated into public transit.
All of this may seem very far from homelessness. But in housing, the vases communicate.
The demand for housing is increasing due to immigration and the rise in condo prices – young people are remaining tenants longer.
The supply is deficient due to delays and costs imposed on developers, interest rates, labor shortages as well as historical underinvestment in social housing, which the Legault government has failed to address. not overturned. Those who suffer the most are obviously penniless people. The evidence is that evictions have become the leading cause of homelessness, just ahead of drug and alcohol use disorders.
For homelessness, before the summit with the cities, the CAQ government could have organized more internal meetings. The lack of coordination begins within the state.
In 2021, recommendation 14.1 of the homelessness action plan proposed to “specify the roles and responsibilities” of each actor. Two years later, we are still waiting. We’re talking about the simple definition of tasks!
Experts urge the 10 ministries involved to work as a team, ideally with a responsible minister. And by focusing on prevention and reintegration into housing. Sexual minorities, First Nations, drug addicts, children of the DPJ and ex-prisoners are over-represented on the streets. Those who deal with them on a daily basis have excellent suggestions to make to the government, but they wonder who to talk to. Another example often heard: after an eviction notice, support should be provided to the person who finds themselves without housing.
Attention stingy people, repression and last resort aid are more expensive, and the community is running out of steam.
This is what we call a crisis – crises, in fact – with multiple factors. It’s hard enough to deal with. No need to do it each in their own corner, playing hero or victim.