Mayor calls for crackdown on illegal Airbnb rentals after deadly fire in Old Montreal

As firefighters continued their search Monday to find victims of a fatal fire in Old Montreal, the city's mayor,Valrie Plante,calledon the Quebec government and Airbnbto work more closely with the municipalityto crack down onillegal short-term rentals.

The body of onevictim wasrecovered yesterday from the rubble of the multi-unitheritage building ravaged byfire on Thursday. Six other people are still missing.

This is the first confirmed death since the blaze, which tore through thethree-storey, 15-unit multi-use building at the intersection of Place d'Youville and St-Nicolas Street.

The building housedlong-term and short-term rentals includingAirbnbs, which areprohibited in this area of Old Montreal under a bylaw adopted in 2018.

Steve Belzil,commander of the Montreal policearson squad, said the victim's body was pulled from the rubble at 6:45 p.m. on Sunday. Police say they were using a drone to examinethe scene when they saw the victim and were able to extract thebody.

"The steps to identify this victim will be taken by our partners in the forensic scientific laboratory," Belzil said.

The only detail authorities confirmed is that it was a woman's body.

According to the chief of the Montreal fire department, Richard Liebmann, nine people were saved from the building and transported to hospital. Two remainhospitalized.

At least 1 tenantoperatingAirbnb, owner'slawyer says

Alexandre Bergevin, the lawyer representing the owner, says his client met with investigators and is co-operating with the investigation. He says the owner,Emile Haim-Benamor, didn't operate Airbnbs, but at least one of the owner's tenants did.

"[That tenant] seems to be at the source of the problematic rental we've heard about with the young woman and her boyfriend who were stuck in an apartment," said Bergevin.

According to Bergevin, Haim-Benamor had sent the tenant a lawyer's letter in order to put an end to the illegal renting and was planning on taking the tenant to court. The tenant was supposed to move out by the end of June, he said.

Mayor calls on Airbnb and provinceto step up

Facing questions about the management of Airbnb rentalsin the building,Plante said the city is taking some responsibility and can do more toclamp down on illegal tourist accommodations.

But she said it'snot Montreal's responsibility alone.

Revenu Qubec must increase the number of its inspectors to investigate illegal Airbnb operators, she said.

"The solution is not only to hire inspectors paid for by taxpayers when Airbnb doesn't even oblige their owners to have permit numbers," she said.

Plante called on Nathan Rotman, the regional policy director for Airbnb Canada, to clamp down on the proliferation of illegal Airbnbs operating without valid permits.

"I'm calling him to do his job to forbid any type of renters who do not respect the law," said Plante. "I call them to take their responsibility."

Later in the day, Quebec Tourism Minister Caroline Proulxannounced theprovincial government willpass new legislation to better regulate short-term rentals"as soon as possible."

The change would force rental owners to display their permit numbers and registration photos for listings, with fines for both the owner and the platform if not respected, said Proulx. The legislation would also make sure that owners respect building codes, she said.

WATCH | Montreal mayor asks for clampdown on illegal Airbnbs:

Montreal mayor presses for more oversight after deadly fire

1 year ago

Duration 1:10

Montreal Mayor Valrie Plante said she'll work more closely with other levels of government to ensure the safety of short-term rentals, and forcefully called on Airbnb Canada to do more to curb illegal rentals.

Cause still unknown

Demolition crews started tearing downthe building's top two floors on Sunday. Montreal policesay they will search the premises to find and extract other victims from the rubble Monday.

Police say it is still too early to determine the cause of the fire or how many people were in the building, andthe arson squad is still investigating.

Service de Police de la Ville de Montral (SPVM)Chief Fady Dagher said it would take at least a week or two to determine the cause.

According to the fire chief, investigators are not yet able to say ifbuilding codes were respected.

The grandfather of one of the missing people,Robert Lacas, sayshis granddaughter told police in her 911 call she could not escape the fire because there were no windows where she was stuck in the building.