The question of the housing crisis has been on our minds for several months now, and for even longer for those who are struggling to find an affordable four and a half in the metropolitan area. Housing is now one of the essential issues for all levels of governance, from municipal to federal, including Quebec.
It is true that this question is not only crucial, but extremely worrying. We will inevitably have to densify our cities, large and small, as I wrote recently1. You will need to show imagination and sensitivity. Consider all clients who need housing, often with specific needs, from seniors to victims of domestic violence. Question the pressure that the massive influx of immigrants creates on the housing stock. Question the balance of power exercised by certain corporations that own multiple dwellings. In short, housing is now one of the major subjects.
The question will also have revealed to us the existence of the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, whom certain little comics have renamed Minister of Real Estate Brokerage, her former profession.
Among other things, she stood out with the affair of housing dedicated to women victims of domestic violence. This minister of a government which shamelessly proposes a bridge at 2.75 billion for two lanes found that at “$900,000 per door”, the cost proposed by the shelter associations was “excessive”2.
Talking about doors to qualify women as threatened in their physical integrity was not the most beautiful mark of sensitivity, and demonstrated a vile commercial vision of the notion of housing.
After this blunder, anyone would have apologized and urgently taken care of their humanist skills. But no ! Mme Duranceau showed up the following week at the announcement of 763 new social housing units in Louboutin shoes, which raised the irony3.
At $1,250 a pair, the iconic red-soled pump, the favorite of French presenters and actresses and Taylor Swift, screams in the faces of citizens: “I am rich and I trample you with my stiletto heels!” » The Loubs is as appropriate for the inauguration of a social project as the espadrille when welcoming a visiting French PM.
PHOTO FROM FRANCE-ÉLAINE DURANCEAU’S X ACCOUNT
Minister France-Élaine Duranceau (third from left) wore Louboutin during an announcement of 763 new social housing units.
The story of Minister Duranceau, of her doors and her pomp, could only be anecdotal. She is not. It is enlightening in many ways, on Quebec politics and society.
First, about the housing crisis.
Everyone just finally lit up. The right to decent housing is fundamental. But not everyone handles this issue with the same delicacy. For some, it’s a way to score political points. A home is a DOOR, rather than a roof…
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party asked the Prime Minister the average price of a four and a half in Montreal. Mr. Legault dodged the flamboyant question and avoided the trap set. Because the price is complex and multifactorial. It depends on the age of the accommodation, its location and its nature. Mr. Tanguay’s question above all concealed the fact that from now on, you often have to change your lifestyle: exile yourself far from the center or, sometimes, accept shared accommodation at 38 years old. And a global solution concerns all levels of government, not just the provincial one.
The Duranceau case also speaks of a double standard.
Women and men in politics are not subject to the same clothing requirements. Talk to Pauline Marois and Catherine Dorion, who, for opposite reasons, were subjected to harsh remarks. Female politicians must stay within the mold, be discreet and neutral. With her Louboutins, the minister displays her financial success. It doesn’t matter that his male colleagues flash their Rolex, it is the woman who will be judged. On this point, the minister suffered the unfair fate that is still reserved for female politicians.
It also speaks of wealth.
Basic Louboutins cost the floor price of a four and a half. What a coincidence ! Whether she wears luxury pumps is none of our business, but hers. However, it also reveals our strange relationship to wealth in Quebec.
Exposing one’s wealth is a class transgression, a disavowal: our relationship to abundance is still historically recent, and it remains fashionable to be wary of financial success. Mme Duranceau has obviously not assimilated the code. The Devil wears Prada, but in Quebec, he wears Loubs…
This anecdote also speaks of political incompetence.
The minister does not have much sensitivity, and the housing issue has the potential to bring together all the woes of the world at the same address. A government sincerely concerned about decency would have entrusted this file to someone caring and more seasoned. Everywhere, the housing issue is a time bomb that is currently exploding in the face of society.
About ten years ago, in the midst of a national and feminist debate on the usefulness or otherwise of having quotas for women in the National Assembly, certain activists said, with a touch of bad faith: “The day he there will be female politicians as incompetent as some of their male colleagues, equality will be achieved. »
One more step in Louboutin and we are there!
1. Read the “Verticalities” column
2. Read the article “House for women victims of domestic violence: at $900,000 “the door”, the cost is “excessive”, judge Duranceau”
3. Read the article “Social housing: Minister Duranceau in Louboutin for a social announcement”
What do you think ? Participate in the dialogue