(Ottawa) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognized Thursday that housing is under provincial jurisdiction. He responded to criticism from the Legault government which the day before had not appreciated that Ottawa was coming to play in Quebec’s flowerbeds with its new measures to help tenants.
“When it comes to protecting the rights of tenants, we recognize that it is a concern, a provincial (competence),” he responded to a journalist’s question. “We will always be there to work in a way that recognizes the distinct character and different rules in Quebec. »
The fact remains that “more and more people are overwhelmed by the cost of living, particularly the cost of rent”. “That’s why we are here to help and to work hand in hand with the provinces while respecting skills,” he added.
His announcement of the creation of a standard lease across the country and a tenants’ charter which would include a rent register had raised an outcry. The idea of creating a rent register was not retained in the Act to amend several legislative provisions relating to housing (bill 31) adopted by the Legault government in February because it was considered too costly.
A billion in loans for daycares
Mr. Trudeau was in the city of Surrey in British Columbia on Thursday where he continued to unveil some of the measures in the federal budget expected on April 16. He announced the creation of a new loan program totaling $1 billion to create new daycare spaces. The creation of a national network of $10 childcare services was one of the Liberals’ key promises during the last election campaign.
PHOTO TIJANA MARTIN, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Justin Trudeau was in Surrey, British Columbia to announce the creation of a new loan program aimed at creating new daycare spaces.
“We have always recognized that Quebec has its way of doing things, particularly with today’s announcement on daycare spaces,” he recalled. We have recognized the leadership for 25 years on daycares in Quebec and that is why we had a special agreement with Quebec. »
The federal system inspired by the daycare program in Quebec has since been adopted by all provinces and territories, but the creation of the 250,000 new promised spaces is slow. An analysis by Radio-Canada recently showed that only 97,000 new places had been created since 2021, or less than 40% of this objective.
The federal government’s daycare program has a budget of $30 billion over five years for all provinces, territories and Indigenous communities.
In addition to the new loan program, the Trudeau government is also extending $60 million in grants. Public and non-profit daycares will be able to benefit from this.
It adds 10 million over two years for the training of early childhood educators and tries to encourage them to work in rural and remote regions by offering to forgive their student loans if they choose to settle there. A measure which will cost 48 million over four years.
Prime Minister Trudeau’s announcement, made in the company of the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Jenna Sudds, had the feel of an election campaign. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland repeated the same message in Winnipeg as did other Cabinet ministers across the country.
The day before, the Prime Minister had announced three measures to improve the lives of tenants, arousing the anger of Quebec which sees this as a new intrusion into one of its areas of jurisdiction. Ottawa wants to create a standard lease across the country, develop a charter to guarantee the rights of tenants which would include a rent register and that the payment of rent counts in the evaluation of the credit rating.
Behind the scenes, it is explained that the government is continuing its momentum from 2015 where it put the middle class at the heart of its message. He now wants to help millennials and young Generation Z access it as they face a significant increase in rents and the cost of living.
The vote of the younger generation is slipping away from the Liberals if we rely on the weekly poll from the Abacus firm on voting intentions. If an election were held this week, the Conservatives would have the support of 34% of voters aged 18 to 29 and 41% of those aged 30 to 44, compared to 21% and 20% for the Liberals respectively.
The survey was conducted among 3,550 Canadians from March 16 to 21 using focus groups. It has no margin of error, but a similar probability poll would have a margin of error of 1.7% 19 times out of 20.
reference: www.lapresse.ca