POLITICAL OVERVIEW OF HOUSING FOR 20142018 CORPIQ REMEMBERS After having formed the provincial government from 2003 to 2012, the Liberal Party took back power in the National Assembly on April 7, 2014, with a majority (70 out of 125 Members). Several days earlier, at the second live-televised leaders’ debate, the head of Québec Solidaire, Françoise David, challenged the leaders of the Liberal Party, the Parti Québécois and the Coalition Avenir Québec to prohibit landlords from repossessing an apartment occupied by a senior. Without thinking more than a few seconds, Philippe Couillard, Pauline Marois and François Legault all promised to do it. Their unanimous response led to the adoption of Bill 492 in 2016, sacrificing rental property owners and their historic property rights in order to gain political support from other electors: tenants and seniors. Yet during the current Liberal mandate (2014–2018), the four main political parties took more or less diverging positions on housing issues. Of course, it’s easier when sitting with the opposition to criticize and politically exploit every misstep by a government forced to make sometimes wrenching decisions. The opposition parties also make mistakes, but they don’t have to suffer the consequences, until it comes time for electors to vote. CORPIQ has prepared a summary of what the Government has done (and not done) and what the politicians have said over the past four years. It does not include their promises for the current election campaign. The goal of this summary is to give rental property owners food for thought in preparation for the October 1st polls. QUEBEC LIBERAL PARTY FORMING THE GOVERNMENT FROM 20142018 PARTI QUÉBÉCOIS COALITION AVENIR QUÉBEC QUÉBEC SOLIDAIRE Note : The political party denotes the allegiance of the Member or government mentioned. In some cases, the party itself has not officially expressed its position on the issue. SECURITY DEPOSIT WHEN SIGNING A LEASE In a May 2015 story by TVA, showing a shock-video filmed by CORPIQ and calling on the government to enact a law allowing security deposits, the journalist asserted that “Minister Moreau is now talking about creating a law this fall.” Pierre Moreau added, “We will have to see whether there would be adverse effects on people with a low income.” Two months later, his political attaché confirmed their receptivity: “We are not excluding any avenue that could improve the efficiency of the Régie du logement. However, we still have to be careful to make sure there’s a balance between the rights of tenants and of property owners.” In a letter dated October 2015, Minister Moreau responded to CORPIQ’s petition submitted to the National Assembly, saying, “It is my duty to listen to any proposal designed to improve the legislation on residential renting, be it proposed by tenants or landlords.” In 2016, his successor, Martin Coiteux, also said he would study the issue of security deposits: “Of course I will consider it, but I will look at all the aspects.” The same was said by the third minister to head the rental board, Lise Thériault, at the end of the Liberal mandate: “I will have to take the time to come to an opinion. Would the deposit lead to fewer cases before the Régie? Honestly, I’m not there yet; I haven’t been in this position long enough to know the answer.” In 2015, Blainville MNA Mario Laframboise agreed to submit to the National Assembly the CORPIQ petition with 12,483 signatures demanding a law to allow security deposits. “We are the only province in Canada that doesn’t have security deposits. (…) The Government has done nothing about it, absolutely nothing.” The PQ is against allowing security deposits as it thinks low-in- come tenants wouldn’t be able to make a payment in advance. The MNA for Marie-Victorin, Catherine Fournier, says she is concerned MARIO by the state apartments are left in by tenants. The PQ seems open LAFRAMBOISE to the idea of security deposits, but is still afraid low-income tenants wouldn’t be able to pay the deposit up front, so the party’s official position is against. Member for Blainville, Mario Laframboise (CAQ), submitting the CORPIQ petition in September 2015 The QS is against allowing security deposits since it fears low-income tenants would not be able to pay the deposit. RENTFIXING CRITERIA Since the Government refused all CORPIQ’s requests to change the Regulation respecting the criteria for the fixing of rent, the time it takes to amortize major expenses (renovations) has continued to rise, going from 38 to 42 years between 2014 and 2018. Property owners’ indexation of net income from rent has also deteriorated, from 0.6% to 0.4%, much like the indexation of management fees, which has not kept up with inflation. Minister Martin Coiteux stated in 2017 that “we must avoid raising rent quickly in significant chunks, since that would put vulnerable households at risk. We are also attentive to tenants’ needs.” In an interview with CORPIQ in April 2018, housing minister Lise Thériault said that “the rent-setting criteria should be reviewed, like everything else.” Further, after the rental board decided in January 2017 to stop publishing fictional rent-adjustment scenarios (a long-standing request from CORPIQ), Minister Coiteux reversed the decision, ordering them to be published once again. The PQ fought for a lease register that would help control rent prices. It also called for (and received from the Government) the return of the Régie’s press release containing fictional scenarios of rent-adjustment rates. PQ housing spokesperson Catherine Fournier put the following to Minister Coiteux in April 2017: “We’re talking about approximately 40 years to amortize major work, while this took about eight years in the 80s. So we can easily understand that property owners don’t have many incentives to do significant renovations on their buildings, which CATHERINE may be deemed unsanitary or dilapidated in some cases. (…) Do you have a specific deadline in mind? Are these just some vague wishes or FOURNIER is there an actual plan?” Parti Québécois housing spokesperson in 2017, Catherine Fournier In an interview with CORPIQ, Minister Mario Laframboise, the CAQ housing spokesperson, explained that building owners must be allowed to recover their investment in the time that their mortgage lasts (in 25 years rather than the 40 resulting from the rent-setting criteria), or the Government should provide a program to help pay for renovations. The QS also wants a lease register, to slow the general hike in rent prices. LEGALIZATION OF CANNABIS The Quebec Government decided to prohibit cannabis cultivation in homes. In response to a request from CORPIQ, it also amended Bill 157 to allow property owners to add a clause to their leases, prohibiting cannabis consumption other than for medical reasons. However, Minister Lucie Charlebois refused to compel tenants to present medical proof to oppose lease modifications. This will force some owners to plead their case before the Régie du logement. LUCIE CHARLEBOIS The CAQ asked the Government to require tenants who refuse the lease modification to show their medical certificate authorizing the use of medical cannabis. Minister of Public Health, Lucie Charlebois The PQ supports cannabis cultivation in homes, including in rental units. WAIT TIMES AT THE RÉGIE DU LOGEMENT Despite the damning reports from the Québec Ombudsman and the Auditor General, and several campaigns by CORPIQ, the Government did not adopt any legal measures to improve the processing delays at the rental board. In 2015, Minister Pierre Moreau said he would study the possibility of requiring a tenant to deposit the rent owed with the Régie du logement before being allowed to request a revocation of judgement. In addition, in 2016, the Government told the head of the Régie that the legislative agenda was too full to attempt changing the law. On the administrative side, a measure was taken in 2014 to appoint and authorize special court clerks (the number of whom rose from four to eight) to hear uncontested cases regarding unpaid rent. Further, a dozen commissioners were appointed between 2014 and 2018 and as many retired. PIERRE During the Liberal mandate, wait times for a first hearing have gotten even longer for unpaid rent and rent setting, but have gotten shorter for urgent and general cases. MOREAU The total wait time for processing (from submission to ruling) went from 7.0 to 8.4 months. The percentage of pending cases compared to new requests dropped Pierre Moreau, minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy, responsible slightly (53% in 2015 compared to 47% in 2018), but is still very high compared to 20 of the Régie du logement in 2014-2015. years ago (22%). The rental board’s annual budget has remained stable over the past four years, at $22 million. At the end of its mandate, the Government announced that a bill would be tabled in May, but Bill 401 was only presented by Minister Lise Thériault on June 12, 2018. The bill was dead in the water given that the Legislature closed three days later. The bill contained the following legislative measures: • Giving commissioners specializations by case type • Holding remote hearings via technological means (videoconferencing) • Recognizing the use of technological means to notify defendants of a request submitted to the Régie • Increasing the power of special clerks, to allow them to hear uncontested general cases • Offering parties the opportunity to participate in free mediation sessions to settle cases out of court • Requiring certain supporting documents (evidence) to be sent before a hearing date is assigned, to reduce delays and postponements • Holding preparatory meetings between parties to better plan the hearing • Requiring all parties in a trial to provide their change of address, without which the absent party cannot request a revocation of judgement • Giving the court the possibility of ordering parties who use delay tactics (to extend the proceedings) to pay damages to the other party who is adversely affected Housing spokesperson Catherine Fournier responded to Minister Martin Coiteux in the parliamentary commission in April 2017: “Think of all the time and money being lost.