The media company says it pays $8,448 per month for its offices in the André-Laurendeau Building at the legislature.
Québecor has stopped paying rent to the National Assembly. The company announced its decision in a letter sent this week to Assembly Secretary-General Siegfried Peters.
Vice-president Jad Barsoum affirms that given the “difficult context,” Québecor is suspending “from now on the payment of the sums for the lease” of its premises in the André-Laurendeau Building, which houses the legislature’s press gallery.
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Québecor, which owns the TVA television network, LCN all-news channel, QUB Radio, Le Journal de Montréal, Le Journal de Québec, 24 Heures and QMI Agency, says its rent is $8,448 per month.
This amount exceeds “the threshold of $100,000 per year, not including applicable taxes,” Barsoum said, adding that this “goes against the principles of access and undermines democratic life.”
In his missive, he argues that traditional media are going through a “serious crisis” that is undermining “citizens’ access to information and more generally, the health of our democracy.”
“The context of advertising revenues in the media has been greatly turned upside down with the arrival of GAFAM,” says the vice-president of institutional affairs at Québecor, referencing tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.
“The advertising revenue crisis that is hitting newspaper companies is having a serious impact on them. In recent months alone, Québecor has had to cut 240 positions.”
Québecor claims to have informed the National Assembly’s real estate management of the issues experienced by the media, hoping to be able to review the amount of the rents required, but says it was “in vain.”
Barsoum concludes his letter by asking the National Assembly to provide free accommodation for journalists who cover politics, which he says would constitute “tangible action in support of local media.”
The letter was also sent to Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe, as well as to the Coalition Avenir Québec, Liberal and Québec solidaire MNAs who are members of the Office of the Assembly, the committee that sets rules for the legislature.
Invited to react on Tuesday, the National Assembly’s office refrained from commenting. Around 15 media organizations rent offices in the André-Laurendeau Building, including Presse Canadienne and the Montreal Gazette.
