Pressed with questions by opposition MPs, the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, made a commitment on Tuesday to have a bill adopted by the summer aimed at tackling illegal rentals on the platforms of Airbnb type.
After having criticized in the morning the “laxity” of the Legault government in the supervision of short-term rental platforms, the parliamentary leader of Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, returned to the charge in the afternoon during question period. in the National Assembly.
“It doesn’t make sense, the far west that we currently see in Montreal and in many other cities. It’s bad for the owners. It’s bad for tenants. And it’s dangerous, “said Mr. Nadeau-Dubois at the Blue Room.
Since a fire ravaged a heritage building in Old Montreal last Thursday where accommodation was rented illegally on Airbnb-type platforms, the debate surrounding the supervision of these has resumed even more vigorously.
I think that with the cooperation of the oppositions, we can do that by the end of the parliamentary session.
As of March 25, Quebecers will be able to rent their main residence on Airbnb in most cities in Quebec. To better tackle the phenomenon of illegal rentals on such platforms, Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx pledged Monday to work on a bill that would require listings on Airbnb to include an ID number. registration with the Quebec Tourism Industry Corporation. A photo of the certificate obtained, authenticating that an accommodation complies with the rules in force for short-term rental, must also be included in the advertisements published on this type of platform.
Québec solidaire, however, insisted on Tuesday that time is running out to tighten the screw on Airbnb. Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois thus presented a motion on Tuesday urging Quebec to commit to adopting this bill by the end of the parliamentary session in order to “hold Airbnb responsible for the illegal advertisements that are published on its site.
Asked whether he agreed to this request, the Prime Minister was categorical: “The answer is yes. I think that we have made efforts and I think that we must go further, that we must make the sites responsible. The motion was then passed unanimously shortly after 3 p.m., along with a similar one put forward by the Parti Québécois.
“I think that with the collaboration of the oppositions, we can do that by the end of the parliamentary session,” continued Mr. Legault. In the morning, Mr. Nadeau-Dubois recalled that Québec solidaire had presented a bill in 2017 aimed at making Airbnb-type platforms accountable for the content they display, under penalty of receiving a sanction. This, however, was ignored by the Liberal government then in office.
No more privileges for Airbnb! In addition to adopting our motion, François Legault confirmed it loud and clear at the blue room: he will modify the law governing Airbnb as the solidarity people have been asking for 5 years already. Very happy with this change in the government’s position. #polqc
— Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois (@GNadeauDubois) March 21, 2023
The role of cities
Liberal MNA Virginie Dufour for her part returned to the remarks of Minister Caroline Proulx, who urged municipalities that have adopted zoning by-laws that restrict the sectors where short-term rentals are allowed to enforce them. However, according to the Inside Airbnb site, 92.5% of the approximately 13,900 Montreal apartments offered on Airbnb are illegal, since they do not hold any certificate of occupancy provided by the City or the government.
“What the minister says to the municipalities is make arrangements. But I would like to remind you that any transfer of responsibilities from the government to the City, well, it must come with the sums necessary to get there,” insisted Ms. Dufour. The latter then proposed that the approximately $5 million collected by Revenu Québec between April 1, 2022 and February 28, 2023, in connection with violations of the Tourist Accommodation Actbe redistributed to the municipalities of the province.
In response, Minister Caroline Proulx recalled that the inclusion of a clause in the Act respecting tourist accommodation allowing municipalities to regulate the areas where short-term rentals are permitted on their territory was carried out at the request of those. “Now, they must apply the zoning they have decided to put in place concerning short-term accommodation on their territory, in the cities as well as in the boroughs of Montreal,” insisted Ms. Proulx.
In this regard, the City of Montreal announced Tuesday that it will set up a team of inspectors by June who will be responsible for finding and sanctioning non-compliant tourist rentals in three boroughs, namely Ville-Marie, the Plateau -Mount-Royal and the South-West. An insufficient measure, according to the opposition party Ensemble Montreal.
“After the latest events, it is nonsense that Projet Montréal does not deploy this squad across the city,” reacted the spokesperson for Ensemble Montréal in terms of economic development, Julien Hénault-Ratelle. “Once again, the Plante administration is working in a vacuum and abandoning its responsibility to fairly regulate tourist accommodation for short-term rentals throughout its territory,” he continued in a written statement. .
A problematic building?
Prime Minister François Legault also wondered on Tuesday about the state of the heritage establishment that was burned down in Old Montreal last Thursday. In interview at Duty, former tenants have denounced the poor maintenance of the building. The Montreal Fire Department has for its part raised the possibility in the last few days that this building was not equipped with smoke detectors, which the owner Emile-Haim Benamor denied through his lawyer, Alexandre Bergevin.
“Whether it’s Quebecers or visitors who were in that building, if there are standards that were not sufficient, it’s serious,” said Mr. Legault on Tuesday, when the police of Montreal extricated a second victim from the rubble of this building.
“There are questions that we can ask ourselves about the building itself, also underlined Minister Caroline Proulx. Was the alarm system operational? Were the smoke detectors in operation? […] Were there emergency exits? »
New details on the progress of the ongoing police investigation into this case will be given to the media on Wednesday morning as part of a press briefing.