Québec solidaire (QS) will ask the Quebec government on Friday for a “fast track” for the creation of shelters for women victims of violence. The government program which currently finances their construction is too slow, because it is unsuitable, the party maintains. Meanwhile, there is a lack of places in shelters and women are at risk of feminicide, argued solidarity MP Ruba Ghazal, in an interview with The duty.
“It’s taking forever!” » she says.
Various organizations helping victims of violence have also made several outings recently, deploring that their shelter projects are “blocked”.
The plans are drawn up, land has been purchased, but these houses cannot be built, because the Quebec Affordable Housing Program (PHAQ) which finances them is not adapted to the reality of shelters and shelters, explains the MP, spokesperson for her party on the Status of Women.
The PHAQ aims to create low-income housing, where people can live for years. Their construction is not done with the same mold as for the rooms and apartments intended for those fleeing violence: they must only stay there for a time, but on the other hand need support and services during this period . This is why it is necessary to build offices for confidential meetings, collective kitchens and common rooms for psychosocial interventions, for example, explains M.me Ghazal.
“Bringing a square into a circle”
For shelters, the PHAQ is like trying to “fit a square into a circle,” she illustrates.
Organizations offering accommodation have told him that they are constantly sent back to the drawing board to provide yet another version of their project which attempts to respect the “rigid criteria” of the PHAQ.
With all these “back and forths”, delays accumulate and projects do not come to fruition, an aberration when there is a cruel shortage of shelter places and Quebec is left with a sixth woman killed since the start of the year in a marital context, says Mme Ghazal.
QS thus offers this “fast track” solution for the approval of projects currently in the hands of the government. But ultimately, Mme Ghazal believes there should be another funding program specifically tailored to the needs of these shelters.
The supportive MP recalls that too many women are refused a bed in a shelter which is full, referring in particular to the text published Thursday in THE Duty which reports that the occupancy rate of emergency shelters for victims of violence in Quebec is the highest in Canada.
Mme Ghazal also followed on this subject the Minister of the Status of Women, Martine Biron, and the Minister of Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, Thursday morning during the question period in the National Assembly.
The latter claimed to be working very hard to deliver the shelters promised by the CAQ government: discussions with the organizations made it possible to “increase the number of housing for women”. His office then clarified that this meant that accommodation spaces would be added, in certain cases, to projects already submitted — which would reduce the cost per door. In mid-March, the minister said that certain projects were blocked because they cost too much.
On Thursday, his office also indicated that it has agreements in principle with most organizations to resolve impasses and that it will ensure that all projects see the light of day as quickly as possible.