Quebec plans to convert civil servant offices into housing

(Quebec) As the housing crisis continues to rage in Quebec, the government is looking to convert civil servant offices into apartments.

Prime Minister François Legault indicated Tuesday that with teleworking – which has gained popularity since the pandemic – government office space could be reduced by 30%. “We are already looking at the possibility of converting some of these offices into housing,” said the Prime Minister during question period.

The PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, urged the Prime Minister not only to consider civil servant offices, but also heritage buildings.

Louboutin shoes

The subject of housing also aroused passions during question period Tuesday in the National Assembly. Liberal MP Virginie Dufour launched hostilities with a question addressed to Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau where she criticized her record. “A rent considered affordable today is the equivalent of a pair of Louboutin shoes, and it takes two pairs of shoes to arrive at the price of rent for new housing,” she said.

The member for Mille-Îles was referring to the fact that the minister wore luxury Louboutin shoes worth more than $1,000 during an announcement on social housing last week.

An intervention which stung the government leader, Simon Jolin-Barrette. “I thought we had respect between parliamentary colleagues,” he said before being interrupted by the President of the National Assembly, Nathalie Roy, who tried as best she could to restore order at the Blue Room.

“I don’t give a damn about anyone’s shoe brand. What is important are the results. And unfortunately, with the CAQ, we don’t have any in homes,” added Virginie Dufour.

“We announced 763 housing units in Montreal. Seven hundred and sixty-three social and affordable housing units in addition to the 285 housing units announced in December, for a total of only 1,043 housing units in the Montreal region. And that is part of the 8,000 units announced in November and 2,574 units already distributed throughout Quebec,” defended Minister Duranceau.

“I think that Quebecers are what they want to hear about,” she added.

Towards the expansion of the Françoise David law?

France-Élaine Duranceau also met solidarity deputies Christine Labrie and Andrés Fontecilla on Tuesday to discuss the bill to expand the Françoise David law aimed at better protecting senior tenants from evictions.

Remember that after having shown little enthusiasm towards the legislative piece of Québec solidaire, the government recently showed more openness to discussing it.

The Françoise David law, which was adopted in 2016, stipulates that a senior over 70 with a very low income who has lived in their home for more than 10 years cannot be evicted. The objective of the new solidarity bill is to broaden the criteria in order to include in particular people aged 65 and over who have lived in their home for at least five years.