The French restaurant and bar Alexandre, established in downtown Montreal, is once again in the hot seat. His liquor licenses will be suspended for 30 days, due to multiple infractions, including the presence of individuals linked to organized crime in the establishment and non-compliance with sanitary measures. The establishment will have to close its doors during this period.
The Tribunal of the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ) rendered its judgment last Wednesday. He ordered the suspension of Alexandre’s restaurant and bar permits for a period of 30 days, the sanction proposed jointly by the RACJ and the French establishment. No customer can then be admitted to the establishment or its terrace.
Many offenses, which occurred between May 2018 and February 2022, are alleged at the Alexandre restaurant. “Six times over a period of approximately two years, SPVM police officers [Service de police de la Ville de Montréal] observe the presence in the establishment of several individuals of interest linked to organized crime”, writes the Court of the RACJ.
In addition, during three events, undercover SPVM officers “acquired sachets of cocaine from one of the establishment’s employees”. “On January 24, 2020, during the execution of a search warrant in the establishment, the police arrested two employees and discovered two sachets of cocaine on one of them”, continues the administrative judge.
The Alexandre restaurant also contravened sanitary measures imposed by Public Health during the COVID-19 pandemic. 1er October 2021, reports the Court, the police find that employees as well as the owner, Alain Creton, do not wear face coverings in the establishment and “that no adequate verification of the identity of customers presenting their vaccination passports has not ‘is made there’. According to the SPVM, 14 unmasked customers were inside the restaurant “outside permitted hours” on February 23, 2022 at 12:15 a.m.
The police were also called to intervene in the establishment “on one occasion due to the presence of an aggressive customer who fought with certain employees”.
Are the police there to help us or trick us? […] When people settle down, I don’t know them. How do you want to know them?
In its judgment, the Court underlines that the owner of Alexandre, Alain Creton, admitted “failures and recognizes that a sanction must be imposed on him”. Mr. Creton also mentioned, during the hearing, the measures put in place to avoid problems caused in particular by “the presence of violent or undesirable customers”.
The owner, however, specified that his “usual clientele […] is not made up of members of organized crime, but rather of business people and lawyers”. “He will do everything to prevent individuals linked to organized crime from visiting his establishment in the future,” wrote the judge.
The Court has not determined when Alexandre will have to close its doors. It is up to the SPVM to decide the date of suspension of liquor licenses and to proceed with the sealing of alcoholic beverages.
Financially weakened Alexandre
Joined by The duty, Alain Creton qualifies this judgment as “robust”. “Are the police there to help us or trick us? he said. The restaurant “is not a nightclub” with a doorman to filter the clientele, the owner defends himself: “When people settle in, I don’t know them. How do you want to know them? »
He repeats that anyone who frequents the institution knows that a clientele linked to organized crime is “not in the style of the house”. Alain Creton hopes to meet soon the new police chief, Fady Dagher, at the head of the SPVM for ten days. “How to recognize these people? Do the police have a list or photos [à fournir aux restaurateurs pour les aider] ? ” he asks.
The possible closure could weaken the company financially, according to him. “It’s like applying a $100,000 fine. Especially since the temporary suspension of the permits necessary for its operations comes when the company is barely out of the water.
In fact, the restaurant hasn’t made headlines for gastronomic reasons in recent years. In June 2021, Alain Creton’s company was placed under the protection of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Ten creditors — including Edifice Hermès, owner of the rented space on Peel Street — then claimed nearly a million dollars from him. The Alexandre restaurant finally reached an agreement with its creditors in March 2022, which put an end to the standoff between them.
The agreement with the creditors also made it possible to put an end to a dispute between the restaurant and its former chef Christian Peillon, which has been stretching for several years. The latter claimed nearly $185,000 following his dismissal. In a judgment rendered in 2021, the Administrative Labor Tribunal had agreed with him by concluding that the changes to the contract which bound the chef to the restaurant were in fact “a disguised dismissal”.