The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Quebecor plans to stop paying rent for the office its political journalists use in one of Quebec's legislature buildings in the provincial capital. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says that the company, which owns television station TVA and newspapers Journal de Montréal and Journal de Québec, says its rent amounts to $8,448 a month -- more than $100,000 a year before tax. In a letter to the legislature, Quebecor vice-president Jad Barsoum said the rent "goes against the principles of access and is detrimental to democratic life." Quebec's National Assembly said it charges all media outlets an annual rate of $269.86 a square metre of office space they occupy. This includes Canadian Press's French-language operation. The rent adds up to a "prohibitive" sum, according to Canadian Association of Journalists president Brent Jolly. "I think it's an incentive for people to move out," he said in a recent interview. "It seems like quite an exorbitant cost, particularly for news organizations." Quebecor is calling on the National Assembly to support local media by providing free office space for journalists covering politics. Many provinces have done so for years.