That's an excellent question.
First I'll talk about the definitions of “affordable” and “social” housing, because that's crucial.
I would like to emphasize that, indeed, the federal government's withdrawal from funding social housing has contributed to this shortage of social housing, which is seen not only in Quebec, but throughout Canada.
In fact, the most recent report of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights found a shortage of social housing in Canada. That contributes to this crisis, because there is no alternative for households that can no longer afford the cost of rent in the private market. If you don't pay your rent, you get evicted, and you have nowhere else to go, because the available housing is even more expensive. It's a spiral. The lack of social housing contributes to this housing crisis, which in turn fuels the homelessness crisis.
With respect to affordable housing, we have always deplored this approach, which unfortunately came from Ottawa, not only under this government, but also following its withdrawal from funding social housing. When Ottawa started talking about affordable housing in its programs, it always created confusion because, in some cases, the programs allowed for the funding of social housing, but also, in other cases, allowed for the funding of private market housing.
In theory, affordability can be assessed in terms of households' ability to pay...