Montreal water main break: business owners frustrated by city’s ‘lack of help’

A Montreal business owner says his anger towards the City of Montreal is “bubbling up” after Friday’s major water main break near the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

Joseph LeBel, a cabinet maker with 20 years of experience, feels business owners like himself, who were grappling with the cleanup Saturday, are being completely overlooked by the city.

BACKGROUND: ‘Geyser’ in Montreal after major water main break floods streets and homes near Jacques-Cartier Bridge

“I’m starting to feel anger towards the city and the lack of help,” LeBel said. “I mean, they could have at least come and brought a container or you know, simple little things like that, and no one even came to see us. No one. No one, no one, no one.”

Around 100 homes and 20 businesses were flooded after an erupted pipe turned into a dramatic geyser at about 6 a.m. Friday. Witnesses described the break as a “wall of water” that shot several metres into the air, forcing firefighters to ask nearby residents to evacuate due to risk of flooding.

LeBel was faced with a challenge he never anticipated, unable to open the garage door of his business on Notre-Dame Street at risk of letting water rush in.

“There was like 16 inches high of water on the other side, so it would have been crazy to open it, and dangerous,” he recounted. “So I punched that hole through the wall. I had made another little hole for my foot to be able to step on, and I hoisted myself over. I have metal cabinets on the other side, so I was able to climb on that and then jump down.

“And I didn’t know what was in the water, because you can see, it was disgusting. I had actually worms, like earth worms, in my shop because of the earth coming in with the water.”

City of Montreal spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said the city “answered quickly and efficiently” in the first 24 hours, adding the focus would initially be on supporting residents and repairing roads.

It’s something LeBel and other small business owners in the affected area understand, but they’re still urging the city to step in and support recovery efforts.

READ MORE: Cleanup underway after Montreal water main break floods streets, homes

In the same building as LeBel is Julien Morin, the owner of La Morin mustards, a family-operated company since 2020. He was also feeling frustrated about the city’s response – or lack of one – in the immediate aftermath of the water main break.

“Yesterday we were shocked and today there’s a little frustration,” Morin told CityNews. “Because we are trying to have some help, we asked for help yesterday. It was really dangerous yesterday and we needed people to secure the area and we needed the help of the authorities. And today we still we don’t have any news from them.”

On Saturday it was all hands on deck outside the building where Morin stores his mustards. Friends and family of his were helping take stock of the damage, with much of the inventory having to be thrown out. Anything suitable will be donated to food banks, Morin said.

“We lost around 90 per cent of all the equipment and all the stock, the inventory,” Morin said. “So it’s pretty hard for us now.

“We might close if we don’t have the financial help, because the financial loss is huge.

“If we want to continue working and participating in the economy of Quebec, we need some help.”

Sabourin says affected business owners can file a claim for material damages.

“Go on the website, look for ‘bureau des reclamations,’ you have 15 days to submit a claim to the city,” he said.

All streets had reopened to traffic on Saturday, but some 150,000 homes remained under a boil-water advisory.