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Police are investigating a suspicious fire that broke out overnight at a kosher restaurant in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough (CDN-NDG).
The two-alarm fire broke out at approximately 3:15 a.m., at Nöam restaurant on Décarie Boulevard near Vézina Street, according to Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) spokesperson Raphael Bergeron.
While no one was injured in the fire, the building was considerably damaged. Bergeron told CBC News there is preliminary information that an individual was seen on the premises as the fire began.
He says police are in possession of surveillance videos that will be verified by investigators.
A video obtained by CBC News shows a man in a white T-shirt and dark pants seemingly starting a fire and running away.
The interior of the restaurant is damaged and covered in ash from the fire. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)
Community fears fire was motivated by hate
Members of the community say they fear the incident was motivated by hate.
“Given the fact that it was a kosher restaurant, I find it hard to believe it wasn’t antisemitism,” said, Howard Szalavetz, who owns the building.
Szalavetz said he got a phone call at around 4 a.m. about the building being on fire.
“I ran here, I was crying because there’s a lot of history in this building,” he said.
Szalavetz, who owns and operates a real-estate business, says he bought the building 40 years ago with his father and used to have his office there.
Now, the space is occupied by several tenants including the restaurant, a garage, and a car wash. Only the restaurant was damaged.
“If my thoughts on the reasons for this are correct, then it’s a very sad state in society if this is what happens to good people, good hardworking people. They run a good business, they are good tenants,” he said.
WATCH | Community concerned after fire at Montreal Kosher restaurant :
Suspicious fire at Montreal Kosher restaurant prompts police arson probe
Montreal police are investigating a suspicious fire that devastated a popular Kosher restaurant in Côte-des-Neiges. Some in the community fear the incident may have been motivated by hate.
In a statement released Saturday evening, Jewish advocacy organization B’nai Brith Canada urged the police to “treat this incident as urgent and important.”
“The community is shaken,” Paola Samuel, the organization’s regional director for Quebec and Atlantic Canada said.
“What we want is clarity and transparency. The Jewish community must be informed throughout the investigative process.”
Politicians react to news of fire
In a social media post shared on Saturday, Quebec Liberal MP Anthony Housefather called for the fire to be investigated as a hate crime.
“Absolutely disgusted to see what appears to be an arson attack on Nöam, a local kosher restaurant overnight. This attack on a Jewish [owned] business must be investigated as a hate crime [and] those involved in this criminal act must be caught [and] prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote.
Housefather visited the site later in the day as did Elisabeth Prass, the MNA for the riding of D’Arcy-McGee.
Prass said she’s frequented the restaurant in the past and was troubled by the news.
“I couldn’t believe something like that would happen in our backyard so it was important for me to come here and speak to the owners and see it for myself,” she said.
“I think somebody who is a coward and who has a lot of anger in their heart came last night and set a business on fire. What their motivations are, we can’t be sure for now but we can’t deny the fact that it was a kosher restaurant.”
Like Housefather, Prass said she hopes the individual will be prosecuted to the fullest, saying that if it was a hate crime, that it should be recognized as such.
Borough Mayor Stéphanie Valenzuela also expressed concern in a post shared on Saturday afternoon, and reassured residents that safety is a top priority.
“CDN-NDG is home to a strong, diverse and resilient community. Acts of violence and intimidation have no place in our neighbourhoods,” she wrote.
Valenzuela added that the borough has been in touch with the authorities and is closely monitoring the situation.