Neighbourhood businesses are being squeezed by promoters in the middle of a pandemic, says Ruba Ghazal.
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A Québec solidaire (QS) MNA is calling on the provincial government to act quickly along with the city of Montreal to protect commercial sectors from real estate speculators.
Ruba Ghazal, MNA for the Montreal riding of Mercier, cited the example of the Arts Café in the Mile-End district, which had to close down after receiving a rent hike of 40 per cent.
Ghazal wants the government to legislate the obligatory registration of commercial leases in Quebec’s real estate registry, which would help commercial tenants defend themselves against unscrupulous landlords.
She also wants commercial leases to be standardized with obligatory clauses that would establish parameters once the agreement is signed. At the moment commercial leases are complex and sometimes more than 100-pages long, a situation that allows landlords to exploit their tenants.
Ghazal contends neighbourhood businesses are being squeezed in the middle of a pandemic to the detriment of the local economy. She argues that landlords have the impression they can get away with anything it’s because the government has left commercial tenants to fend for themselves.
