After months of debate, the article of Bill 31 on lease transfers from the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, is making its way through the National Assembly and should be adopted in parliamentary committee on Tuesday .
Bill 31 has reached the stage of article-by-article study in parliamentary committee and elected officials looked at the one that affects lease transfers on Thursday. However, the session ended before they had time to vote, which will likely be done during the next session, Tuesday morning.
“We are not taking anything away from tenants,” repeated the minister to justify her position. “We should stop basing the housing crisis on the transfer of leases! » Mme Duranceau also stressed that it was normal for a duplex or triplex owner to be able to decide who lives “above his head”.
At this stage, the articles of the law are debated one after the other, then adopted until the entire bill has been covered. It will then remain to have the whole adopted by all the elected representatives of the National Assembly during another session.
Failing to have ratified the article on lease transfers, the commission adopted on Thursday the one which allows municipalities to ignore their urban planning regulations to accelerate the construction of housing.
On Thursday, one after the other, members of the Liberal Party, Quebec Solidaire (QS) and the Parti Québécois tried in a final effort to push it back.
Solidarity deputy Andres Fontecilla criticized him for portraying owners in an “idyllic” way by giving the example of small building owners concerned about the tenant above them. “Most of the time, they are big owners! “, he said.
Butme Duranceau was not shaken and pleaded that it was necessary to “stop basing the housing crisis on the transfer of leases” and that other tools would make it possible to control rents. In particular, it recommends that fines be imposed on owners who do not fulfill clause G of the lease on the amount of rent paid by the previous tenant.
Manon Massé recounts her lease transfer
During the question period, QS MP Manon Massé even recounted how a lease assignment had been her lifeline in 2012 after a breakup. “I looked for a long time, and what finally allowed me to find accommodation was that I had an acquaintance who gave up his lease,” she said. “We experience discrimination when it comes to rentals, when faced with landlords who don’t want to rent to us. Please, Mr.me Minister, leave the lease assignment as it is. »
In his response, Mme Duranceau maintained his position, but said he feared that elected officials would not have time to complete the study of his bill before the holidays. Her bill is not particularly voluminous (38 articles), but the minister has tabled dozens of amendments in recent weeks which have increased the workload.
The PQ MP Joël Arseneau also mocked her in this regard.
“When she tabled her bill at the end of the session, last June, the minister knew full well that her work was botched, half finished, then her teams worked all summer to make up for lost time,” said he declared. “There is still a limit to improvisation. »