Bombarded with questions about the housing crisis in Parliament, the new housing minister France-Élaine Duranceau has defended herself from not acting on this front, and promises announcements “in a few months”.
During the question period at the Blue Room, the Minister of Housing had to answer nine consecutive questions on the housing crisis raging in Quebec.
“The government has been in power for almost five years and for three years it denied the existence of the housing crisis,” thundered the Liberal MP for Mille-Iles, Virginie Dufour. “We are now plunged into a historic crisis. Tenants are hurting and frankly, I would like to feel a little more empathy from the government. […] I invite the minister to find solutions quickly. »
Just before, his Liberal colleague Geoffrey Kelley (Jacques-Cartier), had also challenged the new housing minister France-Élaine Duranceau.
Then Quebec Solidaire put it back just after. “The latest data is a disaster. The rents have increased by three times what is recommended”, launched, in turn, the deputy of QS, Andrés Fontecilla. The MNA for Laurier-Dorion suggests that the government abolish clause F, which allows owners of new constructions to impose excessive rent increases.
“Every day I act”
“I think that every day I act,” replied Ms. Duranceau in particular to one of the many questions targeting her. “Innovative solutions, we have them, we are working on them. I meet with all the partners, both from the private sector and from the community sector. We are going to have some great things in the coming months to announce. »
In an interview at Duty in December, Ms. Duranceau said she was counting on partnerships with the private sector to counter the housing crisis.
To those who fear that many tenants will be made homeless on July 1, she replied that emergency aid would be available. Finance Minister Éric Girard also reported that he had increased housing allowances from $100 to $170 per month in addition to increasing the number of rent supplements available.
As for the relevance of abolishing clause F, Ms. Duranceau remained vague about her intentions. ” That [la clause F] is one of the measures that manage the tenant-landlord relationship and these are measures that we are in the process of reviewing. »
The Minister who preceded her for Housing, Andrée Laforest, had undertaken to modify clause F during the last mandate, a project which she had finally abandoned, at the end of the session, following a suggestion from the liberal opposition.