At the suggestion of the Liberals, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Andrée Laforest, decided not to touch clause F, which allows owners of new constructions to impose rent increases without hindrance.
Bill 37, which she introduced last week, proposed that the period during which owners could avail themselves of this clause be reduced from five to three years.
However, the tide turned in the parliamentary committee on Wednesday when Liberal MP Marie-Claude Nichols suggested not to touch it at all. “What I’m asking is not to study clause F in this bill,” pleaded the MNA for Vaudreuil, claiming that the Commission needed more time to study it.
During a vote, Minister Laforest and the other members of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) then joined the Liberal member, which led to the withdrawal of the article on clause F.
Remember that this clause allows owners of residences built five years or less to raise rents without being challenged before the Administrative Housing Tribunal (TAL).
In recent months, several cases of abuse suffered by tenants because of this clause have been documented in the media.
The minister does not want to discourage owners.
Contrary to the PLQ, the Parti Québécois and Québec Solidaire had suggested that clause F be abolished.
The minister objected to this, saying she feared that it would discourage promoters from building new projects in a context of shortage. She had also maintained that the new owners needed a few years before accurately estimating what their costs were, such as heating, for example.
PQ MP Méganne Perry Melançon pleaded, for her part, that this clause was used “much more for abuse of price fixing to take advantage of a context of housing crisis”. As proof, she said, social economy organizations do not need to take advantage of it.
His solidarity colleague Christine Labrie had for her part underlined that this clause created “two categories of citizens”, those who had access to the protection of the Housing Tribunal; And the others. “We would like tenants to have access to the mechanisms from the start. »