(Laval) The new construction program created by the CAQ two years ago has not yet delivered any housing, denounces Québec solidaire, which is now pleading for the government to launch a housing “corvée” inspired by a success of the 1980s in offering lower interest rates for the erection of non-private housing.
“Rents in Quebec have exploded, and they continue to explode with each passing month. The subject of housing has been evacuated from full public debate for years. […] The Quebec political class, François Legault first, cannot offload its responsibility onto others,” lamented the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, at a press briefing during his party’s pre-sessional caucus which was held in Laval Thursday. He now issues a call to action.
PHOTO RYAN REMIORZ, THE CANADIAN PRESS
The parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, alongside co-spokesperson Émilise Lessard-Therrien
But before making his proposals, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois scathed the media class, emphasizing that four years ago, his party had come out to talk about the “national emergency” to build housing. “Only one journalist showed up at this press briefing,” he lamented.
He believes that the lack of interest in the subject of housing is now costing Quebecers very dearly, and that it is the government of Quebec, and not the private sector, which must remedy the situation.
“We must draw inspiration from the successes of the past to solve today’s problems. In the 1980s, in the midst of the housing crisis in Quebec, the Quebec political class had taken its responsibilities, and the Quebec government had launched a vast housing corvée throughout the territory of Quebec, a real national offensive of housing construction which had worked,” explained Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
Reduce paperwork
He believes that Quebec is “due” for a “new housing chore”, and believes that the CAQ was not capable of delivering the goods in terms of housing.
After ending the AccèsLogis program, the CAQ established the Quebec affordable housing program (PHAC), which was supposed to be more effective. “Two years later, the results of [ce] program which was supposed to resolve all the problems, it is zero housing built, then 46 under construction. The proof is in the pudding. The CAQ program does not work,” he denounced.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois wants to be inspired by the spirit of a “corvee” launched in the 1980s to build housing.
Québec solidaire’s proposals
- Reduce red tape in government programs to get projects off the ground faster
- Offer a preferential interest rate to non-market housing projects, that is to say which are not the initiative of the private sector
- Encourage the development of multi-generational homes or additional housing in single-family homes, to promote “gentle densification”
What program could replace PHAC? How much would the lower interest rate program cost, why not include the private sector? “All the details are not finalized this morning,” retorted Mr. Nadeau-Dubois.
Co-spokesperson Émilise Lessard-Therrien emphasizes that the regions are also suffering from the housing crisis. ” 1er Last July, there was literally no housing available in Roberval or Gaspé,” she lamented. “It’s a big obstacle to the economic development of our regions,” she denounced. She believes that since its 2018 election, the CAQ has abandoned its voters in the regions by not caring about this crisis which now prevents workers from settling there.