Three events linked to the use of irritant gases occurring in just two days disrupted service in the Montreal metro last week. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) says it is concerned about the increase in incidents, but nevertheless emphasizes that it is “difficult” to control.
“Since these products are over-the-counter, it is difficult for us to control them. It is the use made of it that is punishable. Vigilance and awareness remain our best allies,” explains the spokesperson for the Montreal company, Amélie Régis, on this subject in response to our questions.
Since the start of 2024, the Montreal carrier has recorded 11 incidents during which irritant gas was used in its network by users.
On Thursday, two separate events forced the interruption of the service, the first time in the late afternoon and the other in the evening. The day before, the Berri-UQAM station also had to be evacuated. Each time, the reason was the same: irritating gas had been sprayed by a user, forcing the STM to evacuate several stations and interrupt its service, in order to ventilate all the installations as a safety measure.
For each interruption, “these are different groups and individuals as far as we know”, specifies Mme Regis. “An altercation between two individuals at Berri-UQAM, a group of young people at Villa-Maria, and a group of people at Place Alexis-Nihon, which had an impact on metro service, due to the proximity of the Atwater station. Investigations are underway,” she said.
In addition to an “increased presence” of its special constables and its security ambassadors as well as awareness-raising efforts “by making known the consequences on customers and service”, the carrier admits that it has few levers to ‘action.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
A safety ambassador for the STM helps a woman in the Place-des-Arts station.
“We are not adequately equipped to intervene in the face of irritant gas,” judges the president of the Brotherhood of Constables and Peace Officers STM-CSN, Kevin Grenier. He affirms that “according to the national table of use of force, we should have a superior weapon in order to master and control the situation”.
Wednesday, at Berri-UQAM, we were the ones who found the suspect. We had a face-to-face meeting with him and fortunately, he did not have another tank or a weapon,” explains Mr. Grenier.
Kevin Grenier, president of the Brotherhood of Constables and Peace Officers STM-CSN
At Trajectoire Québec, general director Sarah V. Doyon believes that the difficulty of intervening with the irritant gas is multiple. “It’s discreet as a tool, it fits well in a pocket, there are not necessarily behaviors that are easy to detect in advance, and above all, it happens in a short time, so it’s difficult to react quickly unless we had staff on all the platforms, which is not the case,” she explains.
“We need to find solutions, but it’s complex. Perhaps the solution, if use is prohibited, is that sale should also be prohibited in certain circumstances. It seems logical to me,” adds M.me Doyon.
Not new, but…
The phenomenon itself is not new, but it is following a clear upward trend. In 2021, the STM recorded only 7 such incidents, then 23 in 2022 and 20 in 2023. With 11 incidents in just 3 months in 2024, everything indicates that the increase will continue.
Over an entire decade, the phenomenon is ten times higher: ten years ago, in 2013, only two similar events had been recorded.
According to information from the STM, the station most affected by this type of public mischief remains Berri-UQAM, which is also one of the busiest. As it is connected to most of the metro network, it is also where the impacts are greatest when an irritant gas is sprayed. Several lines must then be closed as a preventive measure, to prevent gas from spreading to the rest of the network.
The other stations most often affected are Atwater, Honoré-Beaugrand, Guy-Concordia, on the green line, as well as Bonaventure and Plamondon, on the orange line.
It is the Montreal firefighters who intervene first to detect and confirm the irritating substance. It is also the fire chief who decides on the resumption of service in the metro, and not the STM. Its social constables are still responsible for securing the perimeter and identifying suspects with the Montreal police, by viewing video tapes from the metro’s 2,000 surveillance cameras.
“Our special constables are equipped with pepper spray and are not responsible for the recent incidents. To date, no use has been made of it,” also confirms the transport company, which has taken this measure since December to “dissuade” anyone who would like to attack its agents.
With Lila Dussault, The Press