2024 – Closed terraces in Montreal

Two senior employees of the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM), including a department head, were suspended after the Peel Street grandstands were closed on Friday night, in the middle of Grand Prix weekend. An administrative investigation has also been launched to shed light on the matter.

This was confirmed by several well-informed sources who were not authorized to speak publicly about it at the end of the day. Earlier on Monday, the president of the Executive Council of the City of Montreal and responsible for economic development, Luc Rabouin, had only mentioned a suspension during a press conference following a meeting with Peel Street traders.

“The management (du SIM) has decided to conduct an internal administrative investigation (lundi matin) into the incident. Management has decided to suspend an employee,” he announced, without elaborating.

According to our information, the two employees have been relieved of their duties. They will be assigned other tasks for the time being, at least until the current investigations are completed. One of the two suspended employees is a department head.

This is the first disciplinary action since Friday evening, when SIM staff forced the closure of the terraces on Rue Peel in the middle of the Grand Prix weekend, the busiest time of the year. They argued in particular that the distance between the shops and the marquees – which allowed the terraces to remain open despite the rainy weather – was not compliant.

“It’s a shock for the merchants and their customers. The image of Montreal has been damaged,” said Mr Rabouin on Monday. The day before, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante had expressed her “sorry” that this intervention had led to “chaos on Peel Street” and had arranged for an autopsy to be carried out. This actually happened late Monday morning.

At this point, neither the City of Montreal nor the SIM can determine the circumstances and steps that led to the closure of the terraces. “I cannot draw any conclusions from this: ‘something serious happened’,” explained Mr. Rabouin.

A few hours earlier, the elected official had met with restaurateurs on Rue Peel and asked them for 24 hours to carry out the necessary checks for the reinstallation of the marquees. After this delay, the city will have had “all the discussions” to determine what needs to be organized – “perhaps differently”, he admits – so that the return of the marquees can take place “in a safe manner”.

“We agree that there was a mistake in suspending the measures,” said Julien Hénault-Ratelle, city councillor and opposition spokesperson for economic development. His party, Ensemble Montréal, is also demanding that an analysis of Friday evening’s events be carried out “publicly” in the city council.