One of the first actions of the new Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, consisted in moving 80 civil servants that her predecessor Andrée Laforest had moved two years earlier.
The 80 employees, who were based at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs in Old Quebec, are thus repatriated to the Société d’Habitation du Québec (SHQ) on Parliament Hill. “Bringing our employees together within the SHQ will simplify procedures, do things differently and ensure faster delivery of housing,” wrote the minister in a letter to the organization’s partners on Monday.
This announcement comes, almost two years to the day, after the announcement of the move in the opposite direction of the same employees by the former Minister responsible for Housing, Andrée Laforest.
The minister, who was also responsible for municipal affairs, had then created a new post of deputy minister for housing in her department, to which the 80 employees of the SHQ assigned to orientations and policies had had to migrate.
The organization then lost its CEO and its staff was limited to employees assigned to services to citizens. “By creating a sub-ministry for housing directly within my ministry, all our efforts will be more effective, better aligned, and this, for the benefit of all Quebecers,” wrote the era Mme Laforest in a press release.
No mistake
Why reconsider this decision two years later? To have “everyone under one roof”, we say to Minister Duranceau’s office. The Minister’s team also points out that the news was well received by the employees concerned last week.
As to whether the decision to move them the first time may have been a mistake, the firm’s communications director, Marie Barrette, maintains that “no”. The decision was necessary following the appointment of Mr.me Duranceau, a minister “with full powers” in housing outside the ministry, she explained.
The news, however, was greeted with some exasperation by the Popular Action Front in Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU). “While we are dragging officials from one side to the other, the results are waiting,” lamented his spokesperson Véronique Laflamme. “The housing problem is not a structural problem, it’s a problem of political will. »
In some regional cities such as Gatineau and Saguenay, the housing vacancy rate has been hovering around 1% for months, whereas 3% must be reached to have a so-called balanced market.
Meanwhile, Montreal has been dealing for three years with the largest increase in rent prices in 20 years, according to a study released by the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) last week. CMM elected officials are also urging the government to help them launch new social housing projects.