Quebec solidaire wants government to have a housing and homelessness plan

Snow-covered tents are seen at a homeless camp during the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Quebec is experiencing a marked increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness, and the lack of housing is a contributing factor.

Faced with the glaring issues related to homelessness, Quebec solidaire (QS) is calling on the Legault government to present a joint homelessness and housing strategy for 2024.

In a news release issued on Sunday morning, QS said that resources do not have the means to resolve the homelessness crisis on their own. It points out that there are encampments just about everywhere in Quebec and that there is a shortage of places in shelters.

The party reports that encampments remain in cities such as Joliette, Drummondville, Granby, Trois-Rivières, Rouyn-Noranda and Saint-Georges.

"In the major centres, things have exploded. Where there used to be homelessness, there still is today, but it's spreading," said Taschereau MNA Etienne Grandmont in an interview. "The cases reported in the media and reported to us by (municipal) councillors are increasingly numerous and increasingly worrying."

Grandmont said that the increase in homelessness is directly linked to the housing crisis, which he believes the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) has allowed to worsen.

He is therefore calling on Minister of Housing France-Élaine Duranceau and Minister responsible for Social Services Lionel Carmant to remedy the situation by presenting a joint action strategy on homelessness and housing.

According to Grandmont, facilitating the construction of private housing, as Duranceau proposed, is not a solution: "That's what she's trying to do with Bill 31, but it won't meet the needs. Increasing the supply will not magically provide solutions for people experiencing homelessness."

"Quebecers in precarious situations need support, and private sector housing is often not accessible to them," said the QS MNA.

He also believes that the investments Duranceau proposed for the creation of social housing are largely insufficient.

In its 2023-2024 budget, the government announced an investment of $650 million to increase and maintain the stock of social and affordable housing.

More recently, Duranceau announced that an additional 1,000 affordable housing units could be built under the Programme d'habitation abordable Québec, the latest call for projects for which ran from June to September 2023.

INSUFFICIENT MEASURES

According to the latest Health and Social Services Ministry data on homelessness, the number of visibly homeless people -- the best-known form of homelessness, representing people living on the streets or in shelters -- has risen from 5,789 in 2018 for the whole of Quebec to 10,000 as of October 2023.

In its 2022 report entitled "L'itinérance au Québec -- deuxième portrait," the ministry acknowledges that there is a link between the housing crisis and homelessness.

"Issues related to the commodification of housing and real estate speculation, which reduce the availability of affordable housing, waiting lists for social and affordable housing, core housing needs, the rate of effort (share of income) devoted to paying the rent and evictions can be seen as determinants of homelessness," the report states.

Grandmont said that the government always offers emergency amounts when the temperature starts to drop. We need to get away from this emergency logic when winter arrives, he said.

"What we want is that, eventually, after a few weeks or months, we have been able to identify them, support them, build a bond of trust with them, and gradually help them regain their confidence so that we can slowly lead them towards housing and reintegration," said Grandmont. "It's not just in the autumn and early winter that we need to start doing this."

Grandmont believes that Carmant's investments are insufficient to address the homelessness crisis. He is calling for year-round funding to be earmarked for resources.

"We need a response that goes beyond simple shelters, a much more ambitious solution," said Grandmont.

Homelessness is also a public health issue, according to Grandmont, particularly because of the overdose problems associated with it. He believes that Minister François Bonnardel should do more to tackle this issue.

Grandmont hopes that the CAQ will propose solutions to the homelessness crisis in Bill 31 and in the next budget.

"Because we're letting a situation fester that won't be any better tomorrow morning. We're in a vicious circle at the moment, and we need to get out of it," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 14, 2024.