The problems of the Montreal Fire Department are not new
On October 19, 2012, Stéphane Archambault, section head of the SIM prevention department, committed suicide. The media at the time associated his death with a toxic work climate, plunging the Service into a major internal crisis.
Remember that it was the SIM which made the decision to close four terraces during the last F1 Grand Prix. The next day, Mayor Plante declared that a major communication problem was at the origin of this closure.
Regarding the Old Montreal building burned on March 16, 2023, which sadly caused the death of seven people on May 15, 2023, certain media learned that a suspension of activities related to evacuation routes had prevented legal proceedings against the owner of a building in the historic district where multiple security problems had been reported between 2009 and 2020.
A 30-page report, published in October 2023 and given by mistake to a journalist from Globe and Mailconcludes that, ten years later, the traces of this crisis persist within the prevention branch. The latter was never able to “structure itself effectively and sustainably”, and staff raised persistent problems: working in silos, lack of listening and communication, as well as lack of supervision and training.
The Plante administration refused, at that time, to comment on the content of this report.
On March 17, 2023, Mayor Valérie Plante ordered a report from the Comptroller General. This report, signed by lead auditor Étienne Quenneville, revealed the existence of moratoriums on inspections… According to several experts, suspending this moratorium would probably have saved lives.
Operation VULCAIN
In April 2023, the City launched a special inspection operation, called Operation VULCAIN, aimed at identifying non-compliant buildings or buildings at high fire risk, while ensuring that they are secured as soon as possible.
Rather than handing out fines to recalcitrant owners, as was done before, SIM inspectors can now put owners on notice and demand immediate action under penalty of legal action.
But does the SIM check all security risks? Are sprinklers required for a hotel? Does SIM check if there are rooms without windows? Are SIM efforts coordinated with the Airbnb squad? Can we require the presence of an employee at reception?
Let’s stop pretending that this needs to be kept confidential because of an ongoing investigation. The public deserves to be informed. Montrealers deserve more transparency from the Plante administration to prevent other tragedies from happening like that of last Friday.
Younes El Moustir
Entrepreneur
