To counter the housing crisis, young people from the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) suggest giving cities the power to expropriate delinquent landlords and “socialize” their housing. The proposal will be discussed Saturday in Montreal, as part of the 40e congress of the Youth Commission of the PLQ.
The measure would target landlords “who have reprehensible behavior”, who practice “renovictions” or who impose illegal rent increases, specifies the proposal book consulted by The duty. “Socialization” would be imposed “as a last resort” on owners who have been the subject of numerous complaints. These would then be compensated at the level of the purchase price of the property, “taking into account inflation and related costs”.
Founded at the time of Robert Bourassa’s first government, the PLQ’s Youth Commission has the mandate to submit new ideas to the party as Parliament approaches. Over the years, she has accustomed fans of Quebec politics to bold proposals – and sometimes very far from the ideological position of the party. Last year, she suggested “depoliticizing the health system” by entrusting its management to an independent state body.
This year, it proposes in particular to impose the practice of voluntary work among young people. Only 37.1% of them carry out at least one activity of this kind per year, note its members. Beginning in the fifth year of elementary school, students would have a certain number of hours to offer in their community, from four per month for the youngest to double for fourth-secondary students. Class time devoted to other things could for example be set aside for volunteering.
Say goodbye to SUV ads
In the field of the environment, the Young Liberals will also have to vote on a proposal aimed at banning the advertisements of SUVs powered only by fossil fuels. « The IPCC triggered the red alert in August [2021] “, they point out.
Their proposal book also contains a large number of ideas related to the climate emergency, such as the addition of a compulsory course on climate science from secondary four.
Members will also debate the relevance of increasing loans and bursaries to prevent students from feeling obliged to work to the detriment of their studies. The program also includes other housing proposals, such as the prohibition to own more than one Airbnb-type property, or the obligation to notify their neighbors in writing before renting their accommodation on the platform.
The PLQ Youth Congress will take place this year in a hotel in downtown Montreal, in the heart of the riding of Westmount–Saint-Louis, currently represented in the National Assembly by Liberal Jennifer Maccarone. Several liberal strongholds in the metropolis are still without a declared candidate for the October elections. This is the case for the ridings of Robert-Baldwin and D’Arcy-McGee, whose Liberal MPs Carlos Leitão and David Birnbaum have decided to leave politics.