Thank you for your question.
I didn't have time to talk in detail about the Canada rent protection fund. This is another new development that we've welcomed in recent months. We make a lot of criticisms, but we also recognize the advances.
Again, this is a fund that's intended to protect housing affordability, with no guarantee that it will be used to acquire buildings for social, public, non-profit or community housing purposes. Obviously, we don't think that a private company will be able to sustainably protect the affordability of buildings that this fund would take off the market, as is the objective. We don't think we're far from the goal. It seems clear that's what this fund is going to be used for. That needs to be clarified, but more importantly, there need to be more guarantees to ensure that tenants can stay in the units that will be purchased with federal funds. Once again, this illustrates the fact that clear guidelines are needed when it comes to affordability and the protection of tenants who will remain in the units that will be purchased with federal funds. This is a good step, but we need more safeguards. The funds allocated aren't enough, given the real estate situation, particularly in a number of major Canadian cities. Funding has to be set up accordingly. Buildings are already too expensive to allow non-profits to guarantee truly affordable housing. Low-income households and very vulnerable people need access to rent subsidies.
The purpose of the tenant protection fund is to fund tenant support organizations across Canada. In Quebec, this funding is provided in part by the Government of Quebec. We have always said that the federal government should also contribute, especially since it has recognized the right to housing.
What's complex about the new fund is that, in the call for projects, what was asked of the groups that wanted to submit a project didn't quite correspond to the reality of organizations in Quebec and a number of other places in Canada. Local organizations don't want to propose projects to receive a few thousand dollars. They want a contribution that will enable them to carry out their mission of helping renters, as the government now intends to do. The parameters of this fund make it difficult and discouraging for local housing committees—there are dozens of them in Quebec—to do this work with tenants.
In our view, the fund needs to be improved quickly. It needs to be improved. When we look at the funding allocated to this fund, we see that it's woefully inadequate. All organizations in Quebec, such as the Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain, the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec and grassroots organizations, can submit a project. The funding is woefully inadequate.