NDP, Bloc get top grades from Montreal social-housing advocacy group

A social-housing advocacy group in Montreal has put the NDP and Bloc Qubcoisat the top and the Conservatives dead last in a report assessing each federal party's commitmentto affordable housing.

While some parties fared better than others, FRAPRU says the election campaign as a whole has been a disappointment.

• Poor overlooked in battle for middle class vote, says group
• Read the political parties' 2015 platforms
• Quebec's affordable housing funding loss worries tenants' advocates

The Conservative party received the worst grade by far, with a score of 12 out of 100.

FRAPRUspokespersonFranoisSaillant says the party's record on social housing has beenvery poor.

"They are giving peanuts, only peanuts. We are talking about $250 million all across Canada for new affordable housing," Saillant said.

The report bases part of the Conservatives' grade on their current record. Other parties are evaluated strictly on the basis of campaign promises.

FRAPRU laudedthe NDP for its willingness to renew federal social-housing agreements but says the party leaves questions on homelessness unanswered.

Campaign a disappointment, group says

As a whole, FRAPRU said the issue of social housing has not been a big enough focus during the campaign. Saillant pointed to the two French-language leadership debates, where he said the word "housing" was mentioned only twice.

He saidthe lack of focus on social housing is even more disappointing, considering the length of the campaign.

FRAPRUranked the parties based on five criteria for a total of100 points:long-term funding to support subsidized housing(30);increased investment for new projects(30);funding for homeless-relatedprograms(15);funding for housing on First Nations communities (15); and other housing-relatedpromises (10).

Below is a list of the gradefor each party:

• Bloc Qubcois: 80
• NDP: 79
• Liberals: 66
• Green: 66
• Conservatives: 12