First, there was talk of the deadly fire in a building in Old Montreal where accommodation was illegally rented out for tourism purposes. A tragedy, said the mayor, who did not fail to express her condolences to the families who are still waiting to be able to identify their loved ones.
If there’s one thing this tragedy has brought to light, Plante said, it’s the difficulty of enforcing tourist accommodation legislation, which is the responsibility of the provincial government. She explained that it is impossible to visit all the apartments and that it is much easier if a complaint is made or a residence permit application is made.
A major fire broke out in a building on Rue du Port in Old Montreal last week. (file photo)
Photo: Radio Canada / Simon-Marc Charron
There are [des propriétaires] who are not right, who are unruly. They don’t care, folks. They let people live in vermin, even doing “renovations”. So we’re really trying to clean it up. Then the new Quebec law for Airbnb, that’s really good news, she said.
in the right direction
The elected official was pleased that Tourism Secretary Caroline Proulx had succeeded in forcing Airbnb to offer only legal accommodation on its platform. We’re moving in the right direction, she said, adding that it would help reduce “renovations” and particularly the subdivision of large apartments into smaller ones for commercial letting.
But what I really want to say is that in this case, the inspections were conducted by the city of Montreal. Should we increase this in the future? ? Absolutely! So I asked the fire department to hold an emergency meeting with everyone involved […] to check if there are no blind spots, [si] something that needs to be simplified to ensure no landlords are breaking the rules, the mayor explained.
More rental units on the market
Indeed, the Legault government pledged earlier this week to ensure that companies that own temporary rental platforms like Airbnb are held accountable for illegal ads posted on their site, and will do so before “summer”.
“The Quebec government, for example, will require anyone who wants to rent out their homes to get a number from the municipality, which was not the case before. »
— A quote from Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
According to Inside AirBnb, 92.5% of the 13,913 units listed on Airbnb in Montreal are rented without permission.
Ms. Plante is convinced that this new obligation will bring apartments previously unavailable due to illegal use to the rental market. She said that happened during the pandemic, when people stopped traveling and supply increased.
“It’s still important [ce qui se passe avec Airbnb] because before that we attacked airbnb, anyway the city of montreal, it’s like attacking cancer with tylenol. »
— A quote from Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
The head of Projet Montréal believes this new law will help all cities and towns in the province, not just Montreal.
A selection of the CAQ
Disappointed with the measures included in the last provincial budget to tackle the housing crisis and the public transport deficit, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante did not hesitate to say that the Legault administration knowingly chose to ignore these crucial problems for cities.
Earlier this week, Ms Plante said she was surprised that Quebec had decided to devote so few resources to these two crises that are affecting so many citizens across Quebec.
At TLMEP, she had the following words to explain her exit: Listen, if I have spoken like this, you will understand that I have had many discussions with ministers before […] say the housing crisis, there, it’s terrible in Montreal. Then again, it’s difficult in Montreal, but it’s difficult anywhere in Quebec.
“The Mayor of Thetford Mines, the Mayor of Sherbrooke, the Mayor of Gaspé… What they told me was that it slows down economic development. They are unable to accommodate the workers, in some cases even the nurses, who want to come to their hospitals. »
— A quote from Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
Quebec Minister of Finance Eric Girard with Premier François Legault. (file photo)
Photo: The Canadian Press / Jacques Boissinot
The tax cuts announced in the Girard budget will cost the government $9 billion. The mayor did not fail to mention that with this sum some 50,000 public housing units could have been built in the province, hence the comment addressed to the CAQ.
The accommodation of the most vulnerable is his mission [au gouvernement du Québec], said Ms. Plante. I can’t keep silent [devant cet enjeu].
I have no mistake
Earlier this week, Prime Minister François Legault retorted that the problem of the lack of social housing is not due to a lack of financial resources, but to the inefficiency of local governments, which take far too long to build housing.
The money is there, assured Mr. Legault.
According to the prime minister, we need to reduce processing times for permit applications, a long-standing nuisance for builders, improve the search for building land, and finally reduce construction bureaucracy.
According to the CAQ leader, for the past two years, Treasury Secretary Eric Girard has found that the money allocated for social housing is not being fully spent due to the construction delay, hence the decision to dedicate this year We are in accelerating construction sites instead of the Announcing thousands of new homes that will not be built. Quebec has committed $88 million to accelerate projects already planned.
On this point, Mayor Plante defended herself by saying that the city has no problem, that it is the municipal organizations that work with the developers and that she can only support them in their mission.
Building social housing in 2023 with envelopes from 2009 is almost impossible. Inflation, construction costs, labor shortages… So we have to give them the means to build. Then we, the city, have to make a contribution by issuing permits.