The Court of Quebec refuses to order the expulsion of Quebecor journalists from the premises they occupy free of charge in the press gallery.
Contrary to what the National Assembly claims, the court considers that there is no urgency in ordering Quebecor to vacate the spaces occupied by its employees.
The court is sensitive to the arguments of Parliament, which points out that Quebecor’s media subsidiary, Agence QMI, has occupied its premises without paying rent since August 2023. All other media present in the press gallery pay to access the premises they use.
But Judge Manon Gaudreault refused to rule on the matter urgently and allowed the proceedings to continue.
Quebecor wants the court to decide on the relevance of providing free premises to its subsidiary’s journalists “in light” of the charters of rights and freedoms, and “in the context of the crisis in the news media.”
“Although there is a strong appearance of law in favour of the National Assembly, before describing the occupation of QMI as illegal, the merits of the case must be heard,” the court ruled.
Quebecor moved to smaller spaces in January 2024, after stopping paying rent for its larger premises it had occupied since 2012.
In its lawsuit, the National Assembly alleges that it was then in discussions with the company to sign a new lease for these more modest offices.
“QMI moved to its new premises while the National Assembly believed that an agreement was about to be concluded,” the court said. “Clearly, at some point in the process, someone at QMI decided otherwise.”
“A question of principle,” says Péladeau.
In an interview with the LCN network on May 9, Quebecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau stated that the non-payment of rent at the Tribune de la presse was a “matter of principle.”
According to the National Assembly’s prosecution, it was this statement that prompted it to file a lawsuit against the company.
After the rejection of the request for a protective order, the parties must agree on a course of action for the continuation of the trial, “within a maximum period of 45 days”.