Montrealers speak out over voyeurism concerns at Jarry Park pool

Concerned Montrealers are speaking out at Jarry Park following a recent rise in reports of voyeurism and inappropriate behaviour at the public swimming pool.

Residents say they’ve witnessed disturbing behaviour, including people loitering for hours, staring at swimmers, and even taking photos without consent.

“On Reddit, I saw about dozens of witnessing about harassment, about creeps following women during the night, during the day, in front of the pool,” said Jean-Christophe Arsenault, a Montreal Reddit user who attended a rally at the park. “Apparently, people sit there for hours on end.”

In an email to CityNews, the Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension borough confirmed it received three complaints on June 26 and said it is taking these incidents of “voyeurism and inappropriate gestures” towards swimmers at Jarry Park pool seriously.

Recent Reddit threads from Montreal users have described similar encounters — alleging stalking, inappropriate staring, and what many call “peeping Tom[s].”

“There was a lot of people complaining that people were snooping around looking at them,” said Guillaume Barnabé, who helped organize Saturday’s rally. “And a lot of people said over the years they stopped coming here because of that.”

“It’s not even just about parc Jarry,” Barnabé added. “As a society, we’re failing of making, more specifically men, understand that catcalling in streets, or staring, or whistling at women is just wrong. It’s not appreciated.”

Mandana Javan, who was handing out flyers at the event to raise awareness, said women in the neighbourhood have shared troubling experiences.

Javan said the women could see that the men were not there to swim, and “insistently” stare and take photos of them.

Montreal police (SPVM) said in a statement to CityNews that they’ve increased patrols in the area on foot and bicycle to quickly intervene those exhibiting inappropriate behaviour.

The borough also confirmed it has arranged for more staff “to provide additional surveillance around the pool.”

Both the SPVM and the borough encourage residents to report any suspicious behaviour to their local police station or by calling 911.

“You should act up. You should say something,” said Barnabé, urging people to intervene when a woman is persistently being approached by someone after clearly saying no. “You shouldn’t stand on the side and just wait for it to happen.”