Cities like Rimouski do not have the tools to tackle head-on the social problems rooted in the lack of housing.
“Municipalities are being asked to be local governments, but we don’t have the means to be governments! deplores the mayor of Rimouski, Guy Caron. The irony is that when we talk about social problems, homelessness, prostitution, mental health problems, it shows up in our streets, it shows up in our communities, in our neighbourhoods. But the funding to solve these problems comes from Quebec. They don’t have that in the face. »
The Office d’habitation de Rimouski-Neigette calculates that 339 people, including 23 families, are waiting for social or affordable housing in the city.
Rimouski recently obtained the necessary funding to build 44 social housing units in the motherhouse of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre-Dame-du-Saint-Rosaire. However, this will be insufficient, predicts the mayor, and Quebec will have to improve its funding.
“The sums invested by the Government of Quebec are perhaps good compared to what it cost 20 or 25 years ago, explains Guy Caron. [À l’époque], you didn’t need an elevator, you didn’t have all the standards that add, today, to the cost of construction. »
“High speed V”
The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, assures that ” [son] government is sparing no effort to increase the supply of affordable and social housing.
The affordable housing program of Quebec (PHAQ), endowed with a budget of 200 million dollars, announces a “little revolution”, according to the minister, by allowing a “boost” and the transition “to speed big V”.
“Instead of taking an average of four years to get a project off the ground, it will only take one year! enthuses the Minister.
“It’s nice to have projects, but it takes the necessary manpower to bring them to fruition,” explains Mr. Caron. We have far fewer bids when we call for tenders, so we have fewer choices. It is a reality with which we must come to terms. »
The lack of housing aggravates, moreover, the shortage of manpower, according to the elected official. It is difficult to attract students and workers when housing them proves to be a challenge.
“You can bring in people from outside,” adds Guy Labonté, from the Bas-Saint-Laurent Housing Committee. If you have nowhere to put them, that’s no better. »