Police in several cities across Canada are responding to bomb threats that were sent Wednesday morning to Jewish organizations, synagogues and some hospitals.
B’nai Brith Canada — itself a target — says more than 100 Jewish institutions received an email at 5 a.m. Eastern Time threatening explosions, and Ottawa police say they are present at several hospitals in the capital.
“This is not just an attack on our security, it is an attack on the fabric of Canadian society,” B’nai Brith said in a statement. “In a country where all citizens should feel safe, these cowardly threats are intended to terrorize our communities and erode our Canadian values.”
“The incitement we see almost daily in every city, on every street and on every campus across Canada has emboldened the haters,” the Jewish organization added.
In Montreal, several Jewish organizations and synagogues received the threatening email. The Montreal Police Department (SPVM) received several 911 calls from officials who had received the threatening message, including a synagogue in Hampstead and other Jewish community establishments in the Saint-Laurent borough.
The police went to the targeted locations to carry out checks and did not find “any anomalies or anything suspicious,” confirmed SPVM spokesperson Sabrina Gauthier.
The SPVM will be present on the ground, even around establishments that have not contacted the police, she said: “we will take the lead to ensure security and protection.”
She said the investigation into the matter has been transferred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
With The Canadian Press