Québec solidaire criticizes CAQ Minister's 'cold-heartedness' on cost of women's shelters

QS leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois is criticizing Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau for being cold towards women victims of violence for suggesting that the cost to construct shelters was too high. (Jacques Boissinot, The Canadian Press)

Québec solidaire (QS) parliamentary leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois criticized CAQ Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau's "coldness" and "lack of compassion" because she has halted plans for shelters for women victims of domestic violence, deeming the costs "excessive."

"What a lack of compassion, what coldness. You get the impression that all she sees are doors. I'd like her to think about the women behind those doors," said the QS leader at a news briefing at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Last week, Duranceau indicated that project costs for shelters for women victims of domestic violence ranged from $900,000 to $1 million for each space.

In her view, these amounts were too high.

Nadeau-Dubois asked François Legault to call his minister to order: "I'm asking the premier to intervene in this matter. We cannot allow women to remain in violent environments and see their lives threatened, because Ms. Duranceau thinks like a real estate investor rather than a minister concerned about the common good," he said.

In 2021, the Legault government promised to build more shelters for abused women in order to stem the tide of feminicide hitting Quebec.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 19, 2024.