Charges stayed in 2014 city hall riot

More than 60 city employees, including 53 firefighters, who were charged in connection with the ransacking of Montreal city hall three summers ago saw the criminal accusations filed against them stayed on Thursday as part of an agreement reached with the Crown.

Prosecutor Christine Richard told Quebec Court Judge Lori Renée Weitzman that in exchange for the stay of proceedings, those charged have agreed to pay fines and make donations totalling more than $71,000.

As part of a statement read into the court record, the firefighters and white-collar city employees admitted they went “beyond the limit” in their protest at city hall, before a council meeting, on Aug. 18, 2014. The group was composed mostly of firefighters upset with how their pension plan would be affected during union contract negotiations. The group grabbed papers off the desks of city councillors who were preparing for a public meeting and tossed them in the air, leaving city hall in a mess. The ransacking was a black eye for the city, and Montreal police officers who were at city hall that day were criticized for having turned a blind eye.

Richard said one firefighter died after the group was charged — with unlawful assembly and mischief — and another firefighter pleaded guilty last year but was granted an unconditional discharge.

Daniel Rock, one of the lawyers who represented some of the 63 people who saw the criminal charges they faced stayed on Thursday, later told reporters the agreement avoided a trial that was expected to last eight weeks at the Gouin courthouse, which was designed to deal with cases involving members of criminal organizations like the Hells Angels.

Rock said it made no sense to have 53 firefighters dedicate their time to an eight-week trial.

“No one is proud of what happened,” Rock said, adding he argued all along that the case should have been handled as penal (an offence punishable by tickets) and not criminal.

“Our clients in this affair are people who do not have criminal records. They are positive aspects of our society who maintain important jobs that protect society. We believe that the effect of creating a criminal case for these people was not the solution,” Rock said. “If our clients were on trial for eight weeks, someone would have to replace them inside the fire stations.”

Each person who was charged agreed to pay a $638 fine (for a total of $40,194) and to make a $500 donation (for a total of $31,500) to CAVAC, a group that lends support to the victims of crime in Quebec.

Just before Richard and Rock announced the agreement in court, the Montreal Firefighters Association issued a release stating it “would like to sincerely apologize to Montreal city council and to the public” for what happened at city hall on Aug. 18, 2014.

The development at the Montreal courthouse came less than a week after the Montreal firefighters union announced they had ratified an agreement in principle related to their pension plan. The result was unveiled after a vote was held on June 16 in each of the 67 fire stations in the Montreal fire department. The agreement will allow the restructuring of the firefighters’ pension plan in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Employees Retirement System Act.