At $800,000 a door and beyond, projects for shelters for victims of violence are blocked by the government because they cost too much, argues the Minister responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau.
“There are too many projects coming out at costs that are truly excessive,” argues the minister. Some projects submitted to the government cost the equivalent of $900,000 or even $1 million per housing unit, she says.
Thursday morning, the Legault government was accused of having broken the promise it had made in the wake of the wave of feminicides of 2021, namely to increase the number of accommodation places.
“Quebec has already had four femicides since the start of the year. Will it take another woman killed at the hands of her partner for this file to move up the priority pile? », Launched Maud Pontel, general coordinator of the MH2 Alliance during a press briefing in Parliament.
Comparison with seniors’ homes
According to the network, projects equivalent to 630 places are currently blocked due to lack of agreement with the Société d’habitation du Québec (SHQ).
Services are approaching breaking point with 45% of requests being refused due to lack of available places.
Asked about costs, network representatives claim that it is normal for these accommodations to be more expensive. “We have equipment that we don’t have in regular social housing,” says Louise Riendeau of the Group of houses for women victims of domestic violence. “It’s as if we were asking a general hospital to have the same budget as a CHSLD,” she adds.
For comparison, the average cost of rooms in certain seniors’ homes would be between $800,000 and $1 million.
Asked about this on Thursday, Ms. Pontel replied that the question was precisely what was “the price of saving the lives of women and children who are at risk of homicide.”
Asked in turn about the price of a life, Minister Duranceau replied Thursday that “that was not the question.”