Hearings into Quebec’s controversial housing bill, Bill 31, wrapped up in the National Assembly on Wednesday, with many again voicing concern the bill could further exacerbate the housing crisis.
Most groups who presented at the hearings over the past week, with the exception of those representing apartment owners, spoke out against the proposed legislative changes to lease transfer regulations.
As it stands, Bill 31 would allow owners to stop tenants from transferring their leases. Advocates, as well as the City of Montreal, argue lease transfers are a crucial tool in preventing ‘abusive’ rental hikes.
“The situation actually needs more action, and better legal protection to help tenants face renovictions, repossessions and rent increase,” said Véronique Laflamme, spokesperson for the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU).
Laflamme believes the bill should be thrown out and rewritten, as she believes several elements are missing. She is calling for the addition of more protections against evictions, a rental registry, as well as a section that would make it illegal for apartment owners to evict tenants to transform their homes into short-term rental units like Airbnbs.
The FRAPRU spokesperson is also concerned Bill 32 could lead to the elimination of social housing units — a concern shared by the Fédération des locataires de HLM du Québec (FLHLMQ), which represents social housing tenants.
The FLHMQ argues section 19 of the bill would make it easier for municipalities to sell social housing units, and transform them into affordable housing, which the group argues are not affordable to everyone and could put more people at-risk of living on the street.
“What we want to see is if, for any reason, we have to sell an HLM, we want to make sure that we will rebill another HLM with even more units than before,” explained Patricia Viannay, a community organizer with the FLHMQ.
According to the group, there are currently more than 65-thousand households in the province who rely on social housing, and at least 40-thousand more waiting to get in.
Dufour hopes to see several amendments made to the proposed law, including the protection of lease transfers. She is also suggesting Quebec follow the federal government’s lead and eliminate Quebec’s sales tax on construction materials.
But Premier François Legault told reporters Wednesday he would not be making that move, as it would cost the province too much.
For her part, responding to a question from the Québec Solidaire housing critic during Question Period, Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau said she would be open to making some amendments to Bill 31, but that she would wait until the hearings were over to do so.
She also emphasized the changes to lease transfers are only one part of her bill.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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