(Quebec) The Legault government is on the wrong track by announcing the construction of housing for the homeless without at the same time planning recurring services to support the homeless who will reside there, deplores Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
Updated yesterday at 6:31 p.m.
“The government’s announcement is not bad. It’s a nice gesture. But it is absolutely necessary that the Ministry of Social Services be attached,” says Quebec Solidaire MP Guillaume Cliche-Rivard.
The Legault government announced, jointly with Ottawa, the “rapid” construction of 500 housing units for the homeless last Friday, on the sidelines of the States General on homelessness.
“What we are asking is that this be the last time that a government announces real estate like this without the Ministry of Social Services being involved. If the support from community organizations and social services is not there, it will not work. People are not going to stay in housing,” predicts Mr. Cliche-Rivard.
15 million per year
The latter summarizes the situation as follows: there are three levels of homeless housing: rooming house, transitional housing, and supervised housing. The intervention needs vary, but there is community and addiction follow-up, mental health services and help with managing your budget, taking your medications and navigating the system. “For a high level of service, we’re talking about $70,000 per year per person, and at a low level of service, around $10,000 per year,” he explains.
Without these services, people “return to the streets,” deplores Mr. Cliche-Rivard. “And we go back around the loop, again, and again.” Without knowing the 22 projects that will be built, he estimates, taking an average, that recurring funding of 15 million per year would be needed to keep the homeless people who will be staying there off the streets.
The office of the Minister of Social Services indicates that “services will be financed as housing is built.” “Until today, we have financed services for all units intended for homeless clients,” said Marie Barrette, special advisor to Mr. Carmant, in an email.
The member for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne responds that several organizations, due to lack of funding, must subsidize community support themselves. He is particularly worried in a context of “budgetary austerity”.
Rigidity
Mr. Cliche-Rivard also believes that the Société de l’habitation du Québec is too rigid when it comes to analyzing projects submitted by community groups. Rooming houses do not necessarily have kitchens, for example.
According to 2022 data, there are nearly 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in Quebec. Even if the 500 housing units were built quickly, as Quebec promises, “it is not tomorrow that we will defund emergency shelters,” notes Mr. Cliche-Rivard: “People cannot stay in transition throughout their lives. This requires housing available off-market or in HLM.”
