Community groups that defend tenants’ rights intend to have their share of the new Tenant Protection Fund unveiled Wednesday by Justin Trudeau and some deplore that politicians are making it a constitutional issue.
“For us this is good news,” declared Thursday the spokesperson for the Popular Action Front and Urban Redevelopment (FRAPRU), Véronique Laflamme.
On Wednesday, the Loge m’entraide organization in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean “applauded” the creation of the fund on social networks.
With a budget of $15 million, this fund aims to support organizations like them that help tenants defend their rights. It is part of a series of housing measures unveiled Wednesday by Prime Minister Trudeau, including a Canadian Housing Charter containing a rent register.
An announcement that “surprised” Cédric Dussault, from the Regroupement des committees logement et associations de tenants du Québec (RCLALQ). “It is a demand that we have had for decades at the provincial level to have a rent register. What it shows, however, is that the Quebec government has not acted. »
The RCLALQ and the FRAPRU were in Parliament on Thursday alongside elected officials from Québec solidaire to press the government to act on another issue, namely the expansion of protections for senior tenants in the Civil Code.
“Skills dispute”
“Whether it falls under federal or provincial jurisdiction, for tenants, it changes absolutely nothing,” the RCLALQ also argued. “I would invite the elected officials […] to avoid getting into a dispute over skills and to truly work together to truly protect tenants. »
On Wednesday, the Legault government welcomed Justin Trudeau’s plan with a brick and a beacon. “There is no question of tolerating this new invasion of Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction,” declared the Minister responsible for Canadian Relations, Jean-François Roberge.
For its part, Québec solidaire blew hot and cold on Thursday, criticizing the federal encroachment into Quebec’s jurisdictions, while welcoming the idea of a register.
“By abandoning the tenants of Quebec, François Legault rolled out the red carpet for Justin Trudeau to interfere in Quebec’s jurisdiction. So, I find it embarrassing that the Quebec government has abandoned the tenants of Quebec, thus opening the door for Justin Trudeau to do his job in his place,” argued the solidarity co-spokesperson, Gabriel Nadeau- Dubois.