André Fortin fears the closure of the Tubman House retirement residence in Shawville

André Fortin fears the closure of the Tubman House retirement residence in Shawville

During the debate between the provincial candidates hosted by Équité Outaouais last week, outgoing MNA André Fortin highlighted the plight of small retirement residences, specifically the Tubman House in Shawville. Fortin said that the challenges from the pandemic and also the labour shortage and cost of living have led to the closure of similar-sized facilities in MRC Papineau and he said that he fears the same could happen in Pontiac.

“There, tonight, there was a segment on housing and this is an opportunity for me. I left all other campaign commitments and national commitments aside to really focus on one file, that of the Tubman residence in Shawville which is a very small residence of 9 seniors,” he said (translated). “But residences like this, they have been closing with a vengeance in Quebec for the past year. The debts that these residences have accumulated during the pandemic, the increased cost of just about everything. The impossibility of them increasing the rent of their residents even though there are many political formations that promise an increase in the income of their residents. This makes the business model no longer viable. And so, I think back to the MRC Papineau, there are 6 residences of this size that have closed in the last year.”

The full (French-language) interview with Fortin is available here.