One of the main reasons given by UNEQ to justify the controversial sale of the Writers’ House – the end of the property tax exemption – would not have been an issue until at least 2027, learned The Press. And the historic building in Square Saint-Louis, inaugurated in 1992 thanks to $600,000 of public money, could very well benefit from a new exemption from property taxes if it pursues its mission of promoting literature.
The Union of Quebec Writers (UNEQ) has made the sale of its head office at 3492 Laval Street one of the “highlights” of its 2023-2025 action plan, a decision that triggered an outcry in the literary world. For the past few days, the union’s board of directors has been accused of having ruled on the fate of the Maison des écrivains on the sly, without official consultation of the members.
To justify the sale, the management invokes not only the regular maintenance and the expensive renovation work of the building, but above all the “high property taxes”.
“The exemption that had been obtained following a judgment by the Municipal Court of Montreal is periodically re-examined, and its upcoming interruption will considerably increase the tax bill”, writes the UNEQ in a newsletter published on its website on December 15 last.
“We estimate today that property taxes could amount to $70,000 to $80,000 a year,” the organization wrote in a statement sent to The Press.
[Cette dépense] would represent between 6 and 8% of our budget, and 35 to 40% of total annual membership dues [en 2022].
The Union of Quebec Writers
However, no review of the exemption is planned in the next four years, confirmed the Commission municipale du Québec (CMQ) to The Press. “Unless there are major changes to the owner or the activities of the users, the Commission does not have to revise its 2018 decision before a period of 9 years”, or May 24, 2027, writes spokesperson Isabelle Rivoal in an email. .
In 2018, the CMQ was of the opinion that the Maison des écrivains met the criteria of the Municipal Tax Act by hosting “informative or educational activities intended for people who, as a hobby, want to improve their knowledge in the field of literature”.
New activities
Why is UNEQ throwing in the towel so quickly, now that the Status of the Artist Actadopted last June, gives it new collective bargaining powers?
“The distribution between offices dedicated to trade union activities, whose surfaces are set to increase, and spaces reserved for the reception of the public comes into play, writes the UNEQ. The municipality may at any time proceed to a reassessment of the exemption when it learns or considers that the immovable no longer meets these requirements. »
However, the City of Montreal had no intention of requesting a review from the Commission municipale du Québec before the deadline, indicated to The Press the administration of Mayor Valérie Plante.
In 2018, the City of Montreal did not oppose the UNEQ’s exemption process. And nothing indicates that it will do so in 2027 if the House of Writers retains its cultural vocation. However, the CMQ has the last word.
“There is a big difference between what the municipal administration will say and what the tax service does”, argues however the lawyer Daniel Payette, representative of the UNEQ who has often pleaded before the commission.
Defense or promotion?
The mission of the UNEQ is at the heart of a schism between its former leaders, eager to animate the Maison des écrivains, and its current administrators, focused on the union component.
In September 2022, the UNEQ Board of Directors approved the sale of its “head office”. According to a preliminary agreement, she should join the Union des artistes on avenue De Gaspé, in a building that also houses the Guild of Musicians of Quebec.
“UNEQ has always had two mandates: the literary mandate and the mandate to defend the socio-economic rights of its members”, underlines Danièle Simpson, president of the association from 2010 to 2016.
What she got was bargaining power with publishers, and that’s great. But the government did not tell UNEQ to become a union solely focused on the needs of writers.
Danièle Simpson, president of the association from 2010 to 2016
According to lawyer Daniel Payette, a member of UNEQ, it is now unthinkable that the promotion of literature should remain the “main use” of the Maison des écrivains, a condition prescribed by the Municipal Tax Act.
“We’re still close to 50-50,” he said. You only need to add an office and an employee, and you can lose the exemption. This creates an extremely precarious situation. The union will, for example, have to hire grievance officers, legal advisers and administrative staff, explains Ms.e Payette.
Pierre Lavoie, director general of the UNEQ from 1993 to 2010, is however convinced that the association can maintain its union activities at the Maison des écrivains – or in telecommuting – without sacrificing its cultural calendar. “The Émile-Nelligan room and the Bruno-Roy library are large spaces that have always allowed literary activities to be held,” he notes.
The UNEQ’s union shift is a “radical, philosophical and cultural change” which requires the approval of the members, plead 53 signatories – former administrators and writers such as Michel Tremblay, Gilles Vigneault and Joséphine Bacon – in a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe.
“What will happen to the grants that UNEQ receives from the three arts councils [500 000 $ en 2022] and your ministry, if it emphasizes its trade union activities? they ask.
Reassure members
Mayor Valérie Plante’s cabinet claims to be “sensitive to the concerns of the community”, and hopes in veiled terms that the UNEQ board of directors will reconsider its position.
“The building and the mission of the Maison des écrivains are at the heart of the identity of our cultural metropolis and we hope that the board of directors will be able to quickly reassure its members about the future of their head office”, writes Catherine Cadotte. , principal press officer for the office of the mayor and the executive committee of Montreal.
In an email sent to The Pressthe Ministry of Culture says it remains “vigilant” and specifies that it will collaborate with the City of Montreal “if specific measures must be taken”.
Many UNEQ members have written to the board of directors asking that the question of the sale of the Maison des writers be placed on the agenda of the next extraordinary assembly, where the controversial union dues will be the subject of a new vote.
The UNEQ Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday, January 17 in the afternoon to study the “requests received” from its members.
From $335,000 to 2.4 million?
The Writers’ House was purchased in 1990 for $335,000 and opened two years later. Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa shared the cost of upgrading the building to the tune of $600,000, the equivalent of more than $1 million today. The value of the historic building, free of mortgages, is estimated at 2.4 million by the City of Montreal. “Our first evaluations lead us to believe that the value of the house on the market will be between $1,300,000 and $1,600,000”, specifies the UNEQ in an email.