Plante, Coderre trade jabs over housing crisis as families scramble for new homes on Moving Day

A battle over Moving Day Montreal mayor candidates engaged in a war of words over how each would handle the city’s housing crisis on Moving Day.

MONTREAL — Once and possibly future Montreal mayor Denis Coderre accused his successor of dropping the ball on the city's housing crisis on Thursday, saying he left her all the tools needed to mitigate the situation.

July 1, known in Quebec as Moving Day, saw many Montrealers leaving their homes due to renovictions or price increases. Coderre accused current mayor Valerie Plante's admnistration of lacking vision needed to meet their needs.

“They had since 2017, why has nothing happened?” Coderre said. “We're saying 'Ok, we were there, this is who we would suggest for July 1 because it's an emergency situation.”

Coderre said that should he return to the job he once held, he would establish a permanent Moving Day team whose purpose would be to find and reserve appartments which could be assigned to those in a crisis situation.

“What we're proposing is that the city act as a great catalyst to allow organizations on the ground, who have the know-how, to allow them to reserve and book housing way ahead of the curve, so they have a bank ready on July 1,” he said.

The mayoral candidate said his initiative wouldn't cost more than $1 million.

Plante disputed Coderre's account of the situation, saying her administration was prepared.

“It's always a crisis for a family or household to have a place to move to. We prepared in advance, we've been working for six months now,” she said.

Plante said the city is currently providing storage and hotel stays to 97 families that are searching for housing.