Montreal, April 29th 2020 \u2013 On the eve of May 1st, the\nRegroupement des comit\u00e9s logement et associations de locataires du Qu\u00e9bec\n(RCLALQ) was impatient to know the Quebec government’s housing action plan to\nhelp tenant households hard hit by the consequences of the ongoing pandemic.\nHowever, the coalition is dissatisfied with the measures announced today and denounces\nthe fact that nothing has been put in place to avoid a catastrophe come July\n1st. The Quebec government must ensure that no tenant household finds itself on\nthe street in the midst of the health crisis and must offer more financial\nassistance for the most impoverished tenants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Double standard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The RCLALQ calls into question the double standard of the measures\nannounced today; the first being a loan intended for tenants who are having\ndifficulty paying their rent, and the second being a rent subsidy for\nhouseholds unable to move into their future homes due to construction delays.\n“With these measures, the government is choosing to subsidize wealthier\nhouseholds that can afford to live in new houses while driving the most vulnerable\nhouseholds into debt,” denounces Maxime Roy-Allard, spokesperson for the\nRCLALQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than offering a non-repayable rent subsidy as requested by tenant rights groups, the government opted instead for a rent loan of up to $1500 valid for 2 months that will be paid directly to landlords. “For the impoverished, indebtedness is not a solution,” denounces the spokesperson. “Already many households cope with extremely tight budgets and adding an additional cost to the coming year will make it very difficult for them to make ends meet.” In addition, this loan is only short-term. “It would be mistaken to believe that the financial difficulties of tenants will be limited to only 2 months,” asserts Mr. Roy-Allard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing to counter an eventualflood of evictions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At this time when the government is announcing the gradual reopening of\nthe province, the RCLALQ is concerned that this action plan does not provide\nfor an extension of the moratorium on tenant evictions that is currently in\neffect for the duration of the health crisis. “The government must do\neverything possible to ensure that no tenant household is left homeless in the\ncoming months, it\u2019s a question of public health. Minister Laforest must\nabsolutely extend the moratorium on evictions for several more months,”\nthe spokesperson said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the RCLALQ is deeply disappointed that the housing assistance\nmeasures are only being offered to tenants awaiting delayed new construction.\n“This pandemic is risking many people be thrown out onto the street. The\ngovernment must extend this subsidy to all households at risk of becoming\nhomeless,” Roy-Allard said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Montreal, April 29th 2020 \u2013 On the eve of May 1st, the Regroupement des comit\u00e9s logement et associations de locataires du Qu\u00e9bec (RCLALQ) was impatient to know the Quebec government’s housing action plan to help tenant households hard hit by the consequences of the ongoing pandemic. However, the coalition is dissatisfied with the measures announced today and denounces the fact that nothing has been put in place to avoid a catastrophe come July 1st. The Quebec government must ensure that no tenant household finds itself on the street in the midst of the health crisis and must offer more financial assistance for the most impoverished tenants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,61],"tags":[],"categorie_campagne":[],"class_list":["post-2769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communique-de-presse","category-covid-19"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n