France-Élaine Duranceau
France-Élaine Duranceau | |
|---|---|
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Bertrand | |
| Assumed office October 3, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Nadine Girault |
| Quebec Minister for Housing | |
| Assumed office October 20, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Andrée Laforest |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Coalition Avenir Québec |
France-Élaine Duranceau is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2022 Quebec general election. She was appointed to cabinet named Minister of Housing. She represents the riding of Bertrand as a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec.[1]
Minister of Housing
Ms. Duranceau made headlines in June 2023 when she tabled her first bill to modernize the Housing Act. Bill 31 seeks to eliminate the need for landlords to deal with lease transfers,[2] as well as the need to rely on a Housing Administrative Tribunal grid for rate increases for new housing (new construction),[3] was introduced at the end of the spring 2023 parliamentary session. The bill has stirred controversy, given the escalating housing crisis in Quebec.
As a former real estate broker, the Minister of Housing believes that it is not up to tenants to decide on rent prices, and that lease transfers should no longer be allowed. Minister Duranceau admitted to Radio-Canada radio that she was unaware of the number of tenants expected to be homeless on July 1st 2023, the day that most leases start in Quebec.[4]
In November 2023, Duranceau was found to have "abusively favoured the personal interests of one of her friends (a real estate lobbyist)," by the ethics commissioner Ariane Mignolet. The Parti Québécois and Québec solidaire linked the breach of ethics with the minister’s Bill 31 on housing. “What this reveals today is not only that there was a failure on this level at the start of the mandate, it also reveals that the minister’s proximity to the real-estate developer community has also continued, taking into account Bill 31, where we very clearly see the minister’s bias toward real-estate projects, real-estate owners at the expense of tenants,” said PQ MNA Joël Arseneau.[5]
Electoral record
| 2022 Quebec general election: Bertrand | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | France-Élaine Duranceau | |||||||
| Parti Québécois | Guillaume Freire | |||||||
| Québec solidaire | Julie Francoeur | |||||||
| Conservative | Philippe Meloni | |||||||
| Liberal | André Nadeau | |||||||
| Green | Karine Steinberger | |||||||
| Parti humain | Marie-Eve Ouellette | – | ||||||
| Climat Québec | Samuel Fortin | – | ||||||
| Total valid votes | – | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Electors on the lists | – | – | ||||||
References
- ^ Simon Cordeau, "Bertrand – France-Élaine Duranceau (CAQ) élue". Journal Accès, October 4, 2022.
- ^ Martin, Léa (2023-06-09). "«Un recul majeur» pour les locataires: c'est la fin des cessions de bail comme on les connaît au Québec". 24 heures (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Politique-. "Le projet de loi 31 sur l'habitation manque la cible, déplorent les propriétaires". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Politique-. "La ministre Duranceau n'a pas de chiffres sur le nombre de sans-logis au 1er juillet". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ Montreal Gazette, Zone Politique-. "Quebec housing minister violated ethics code, commissioner finds". Radio-Canada.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2023-12-02.