A Quebec housing rights group began demonstrations on Thursday morning in different regions of the province to demand that the Quebec government introduce rent control.
In Montreal, furniture and bulky objects were placed on the busy street near Saint-Antoine Ouest and Square Victoria to illustrate the consequences of the housing crisis. In Rimouski, a poster and awareness action was put in place to inform tenants of their right to refuse a rent increase. And in Quebec City, three organizations planned a disruption action to denounce the government's inaction.
The Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) criticizes the fact that, at the moment, the responsibility for refusing a rent increase rests on tenants' shoulders.
In order to control rents, the RCLALQ is calling for the mandatory use of the Rental Estimate Indexes of the Administrative Rental Tribunal. In addition, it wants the implementation of a rent registry to limit evictions, such as so-called 'renovictions', which aim to drastically increase the price of housing.
On Thursday morning, Housing Minister Andrée Laforest announced the creation of a new $200 million program that will allow for the construction of 2,000 units within a year, according to her calculations. However, she refused to set up a rent registry program, explaining that the estimated cost of $50 million is too expensive.
The RCLALQ maintains that since the beginning of its mandate, the Legault government has demonstrated its disconnection from the reality of tenant households by continuing to deny the existence of the housing crisis and by refusing to engage in a dialogue with tenants' rights groups.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 3, 2022. With files from CTV News' Angela Mackenzie.
