Montreal's tough stance on cleanliness is not sitting well with business owners, who plan to fight tickets issued under the city's new rules.

The city said it would hold property owners responsible for graffiti on their buildings or garbage littering their doorways.

George Bougadis owns an auto repair shop in Montreal's Plateau Mont-Royal that's a popular target for graffiti.
(Melissa Kent/CBC)

"They're going too far," said Peter Sergakis, president of the Association of Commercial and Residential Building Owners. "This is not the way to keep the city clean, there is no question about it."

The association said it will instruct members to contest every fine the city hands to business owners who fail to keep their properties clean, and said it's not up to them to clean up a stretch of sidewalk they don't own. 

"Tenants and the people, they're going to be throwing [trash], because they're going to know they're not the ones to pay the fine," Sergakis told CBC.

Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay launched the city's ambitious cleanliness campaign this spring, declaring war against trash and promising to hire more litter inspectors who would not be shy about handing out littering tickets.

Tremblay said Friday he'd like to see business owners take more pride and responsibility for their property.

Creating momentum

"We feel if there is a strong leadership with the business leaders of the community, as a result of that the citizens will be more responsible and will assume their civic duty. So it's a momentum that we have to create," Tremblay told CBC.

Some owners believe it doesn't matter how proud they feel about their businesses — people will do what they want to do.

Plateau Mont-Royal auto repair shop owner George Bougadis has struggled with graffiti and garbage for years. His garage walls are popular with vandals, who have left dozens of tags on the corner building over time. 

Bougadis used to cover up their work with paint but gave up after many mornings of coming to work to a find a fresh batch of graffiti. 

"What [am] I gonna do?" he said in an interview. "What do you want? I get a gun? Go out and shoot them or I fight on the street? I can't do that. The police and the city are responsible for that."

Laval precedent

Bougadis said he thinks it's ridiculous he's now expected to pay for vandals' damage.

The business association said there's a legal precedent rendered by Quebec's Court of Appeal that could support its position. In 1994, the court acquitted a Laval landlord accused of violating a rule that forbade him from putting out trash between certain hours.

The owner argued he couldn't control his tenants' behaviour and couldn't be expected to be responsible for their garbage. The court agreed with him, ruling he did not have the responsibility to uphold the city's bylaws.

Sergakis said the precedent will be useful to property owners who go the distance to fight littering tickets.

Under the new bylaws, fines range from $60 to $1,000.

The rules are already in effect in several boroughs, including Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal Southwest, Rosemont/Petite-Patrie and Verdun.