Latest news with #JarryPark
CTV News
06-07-2025
- CTV News
Concerned citizens gather at Jarry Park to address voyeurism at public pool
A group of concerned citizens gathered at Jarry Park on Saturday to raise awareness about voyeurism at the public swimming pool. A group of concerned citizens gathered at Jarry Park on Saturday to raise awareness about voyeurism at the public swimming pool. The gathering comes after a growing number of reports from women feeling unsafe due to inappropriate behaviour, which include men 'ogling' women in bathing suits with some even taking pictures. CTV News first reported the story on June 27 after users on Reddit brought attention to the issue. Among those leading the charge is Mandana Javan, who was distributing flyers urging people to speak out against such behaviour. 'They don't think about the consequences of this small gesture that they can just see for two seconds but the effect can be enormous, especially on women,' said Javan. READ MORE: Montreal police to enhance Jarry Park patrols after women report voyeurism cases The flyers provide resources for women, as well as teaching others the importance of respecting boundaries. 'I think twice about coming to swim here,' said one woman who spoke with CTV News. Another recalled an experience last year when men on benches stared at her as she walked through the park. 'It made me feel uncomfortable,' she said. Guillaume Barnabe, another demonstrator at the event, said men should also speak out if they see this kind of behaviour. 'You should act up. You should say something. You shouldn't stand on the side and just wait for it to happen,' he said. In response, Montreal police have increased patrols near the pool. The SPVM says it is closely monitoring the situation. The borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension told CTV News that the head of its sports division is spending a part of the day at the park to talk with demonstrators.
CBC
05-07-2025
- CBC
Quebecers raise concerns about voyeurism at Montreal's Jarry Park pool
A handful of Quebecers in Montreal's Jarry Park on Saturday spoke out against voyeurism after several social media posts reported men allegedly photographing women at the nearby pool without their consent. The borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension received three complaints of voyeurism near Jarry Park pool on June 26, a spokesperson for the borough said in an email on Friday. No complaints had been recorded before then, according to the spokesperson. Comments made in a Montreal Reddit thread more than a week ago point to a group of men allegedly gathering by the pool to stare at women and secretly photograph them while they were swimming. Montreal police said in an email on Thursday that officers of the neighbourhood station are aware of the issue at the park and are "taking it seriously." They said officers have been patrolling the area on foot and on bicycle. Caitlin Bugden, who kickboxes with her friends at the other end of the park where she feels more comfortable, said the reports online validated her feelings of uneasiness in the area near the pool. "I definitely am making a more conscious decision to stay away, absolutely," Bugden said. She added that the reported behaviour is "really disheartening" because women "just want to be left alone and do the things we want to do." Guillaume Barnabé, a Vaudreuil resident who saw the online thread, went to the park on Saturday to discuss how to become an active bystander. "I had never been to Jarry Park [before today], but I've seen enough posts of people complaining about it that I wanted to do something about it," Barnabé said, noting that the complaints reflect the need to raise awareness about women's sense of safety in society. "We should all take part to make all people feel safe," he said. A spokesperson for the borough said additional staff have been deployed between Monday to Sunday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. to provide more surveillance around the pool. "The safety and well-being of all those using Jarry Park are a priority. Any form of harassment is unacceptable and will be dealt with the utmost rigour," the spokesperson said.
CTV News
27-06-2025
- CTV News
‘I felt unsafe': Montreal police to enhance Jarry Park patrols after women report voyeurism cases
Montreal police say they will increase their patrols in Jarry Park after receiving several complaints from women reporting cases of 'voyeurism and inappropriate gestures.' Women have posted on forums and social media in recent days that groups of men have been making women feel uncomfortable to the point where they got up and left because they felt unsafe. CTV News interviewed one woman who wrote about her experience in a post on Reddit following an incident on Tuesday. She said a group of men came and sat near her while she was sunbathing, and one of them came so close that he was nearly sitting on her mat while staring at her. 'You're almost naked at the pool — everybody is. So you're already kind of … more vulnerable. I really tried not to take it personally because it is a pool and there will be men … [but] it's hard as a woman. Like, is this a dangerous one? Or is this a weird one? And in that case it definitely felt weird,' she said. Voyeurism at Jarry Park A woman with her back to the camera speaks to CTV News about an unsettling experience of voyeurism at Jarry Park. (CTV News) CTV News is not naming her because she fears she will be targeted for speaking out. 'I was analyzing the whole thing: He has space [over] there, he has space here. He's definitely trying to do something to me. And he did do something to me. That's why I felt powerless and angry when I left because, at the end of the day, I had to leave,' she said. 'I was hanging out, relaxed, and then I felt unsafe.' More than 400 comments followed her post on Reddit with many women sharing similar experiences of seeing men going to the park, not to swim but to 'ogle' at women wearing bathing suits. In a written statement, Montreal police said Friday that they are taking the complaints from women seriously and are increasing their presence in the area to prevent and intervene in cases of 'unacceptable behaviour.' Police are also meeting with lifeguards at the pool to instruct them to report any further incidents immediately. 'We would like to reiterate that the safety and well-being of everyone who visits Jarry Park is a priority. Any form of harassment is unacceptable and will be dealt with severely,' police added. Protest planned for July 5 The phenomenon doesn't seem to be a new one, however. A Reddit post from more than a year ago described similar accounts at the park. The advocacy group Women Aware says it's also up to men to take action and change their behaviour. 'We're asking what women can do. And it's very unfair to put the responsibilities on us because the reality should be what men should not be doing,' said executive director Alham Mahmod in an interview. Meanwhile, a group of people is planning a protest on July 5 in Jarry Park. A description of the event on Facebook says the protest is meant to 'sensitize people into standing up for women.'
CTV News
29-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Family in tears after Good Samaritans who saved father's life visit hospital
The Borrelli family is eternally thankful after three Good Samaritans saved 87-year-old Sabato after he collapsed in Jarry Park. Gloria Borrelli and other members of her family broke down in tears when the Good Samaritans who saved her father's life showed up at the hospital. 'They just wanted to see my dad,' she said. 'It was so nice. They brought us flowers.' Gloria's father, Sabato Borrelli, collapsed in Jarry Park on May 15, when a trio of Good Samaritans came to his rescue. Three people found the 87-year-old around 20 minutes after he collapsed and performed CPR on the man until emergency services arrived. Mikhael Esterez and a woman who preferred to remain anonymous were helped by another stranger to keep Sabato alive. Gloria told CTV News that she met Esterez and the woman, but still does not know the identity of the third person. Esterez's father, she said, was a doctor and taught the entire family CPR and the woman went to med school and knew what to do. 'It was the right people that know what they're doing,' said Gloria, who said that the two typically head to daycare at 5 p.m. nearby but decided to go at 3 p.m. Gloria Borrelli and Vanessa Caporicci Gloria Borrelli and Vanessa Caporicci will be learning CPR in the coming months after Gloria's 87-year-old father was saved by Good Samaritans after he collapsed. (Christine Long/CTV News) After the event, the family was desperate to find the people who saved Sabato, as, if not for their performing CPR on him for 20 minutes, he would have died. 'I still get chills when I say that because if that had not been done, he was a goner,' said Gloria. Sabato regained consciousness on May 17, also his 87th birthday. He remains in the hospital recovering. Sabato Borrelli Sabato Borrelli was an active 86-year-old man before he collapsed in Jarry Park days before his birthday and was saved by Good Samaritans who stopped to give him CPR. (Gloria Borrelli) Gloria said that she will arrange CPR training for the entire family in the coming months, as the family has become fully aware of its importance. 'You can literally save a life if you have the bare minimum of training in terms of how to provide basic cardiac life support,' said Dr. Christopher Labos. 'I think it's something we should be teaching everyone. I think we should be teaching it to kids in school. I think we should be training people how to use defibrillators, cause that makes a difference as well.'
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Montreal family meets Good Samaritans who delivered life-saving CPR to 87-year-old man
When 87-year-old Sabato Borrelli went into cardiac arrest May 15, a group of strangers stepped in to help. After reading about Borrelli's recovery, one of them reached out to CBC. Gloria Borrelli and her mother Francesca choked back tears as they took turns hugging and kissing Mikhael Esterez on the cheek, repeating the words "thank you" over and over again outside Montreal's Sacré-Coeur hospital. After more than a week of searching for the Good Samaritans who delivered life-saving CPR to Gloria's dad, 87-year-old Sabato Borrelli, the mother and daughter finally met Esterez and another woman who played a key role that day, but who wanted to keep her identity private. Borrelli had collapsed after going into cardiac arrest while out on his daily walk on May 15 near Jarry Park. "You guys are superheroes for us," Gloria told them. On Monday, the two strangers met Borrelli inside his hospital room where he continues to recover from the ordeal. He managed to wave and say thank you "many times," he said. Esterez reached out to CBC after reading about Borrelli 's recovery and the family's search for the Good Samaritan who saved him. But he insisted CBC also find the woman at the scene who was the first to call 911 and begin compressions that day. "I'm super happy that they have more time with somebody that's important to them," he said. "We all have people we care for and sometimes we kind of wish we could have more time with them." Mikhael Esterez, left, met Sabato Borrelli's granddaughter, Vanessa Caporicci, right, among some of his other family members Monday. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC) Borrelli turned 87 the day he awoke at the hospital on May 17. Coincidentally, that same day, Esterez turned 35, wondering what had become of the man he helped a couple days prior. He had pulled into the parking lot of his daughter's daycare around 3 p.m. when he saw Borrelli lying on the ground, a woman on the phone near him. The 911 operator asked if there were any defibrillators nearby. Esterez went into the daycare hoping to find one but there was none. By that point, the woman had already started giving Borrelli chest compressions to the pace set by the 911 operator over the phone. Feeling some strain in her wrists, she let Esterez take over after a few minutes. "He has these very intense blue eyes and I remember looking down on him while doing the compressions and he was staring at me so I really hoped I would see him like I did today, alive with life in his eyes because I feared they would kind of haunt me for a little while," he said. Francesca Borrelli said the young age of the two people that helped save her husband's life touched her and she felt grateful for them. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC) Esterez kept going until a first paramedic arrived in an SUV equipped with a defibrillator at 3:15 p.m., according to Urgences-santé's log. The paramedic shocked Borrelli and asked a second unidentified man to take over chest compressions for a bit, said Esterez. Five minutes later, at 3:20 p.m., the ambulance arrived and Borrelli was rushed to hospital. "You're just left there and you don't know if you did good or if the person is still alive," said Esterez. Urgences-santé spokesperson Jean-Pierre Rouleau says they were receiving a high volume of calls that day, which is why the ambulance took as long as it did. The original dispatch was received at 3:02 p.m. Over the last 30 days, Urgences-santé's ambulances have arrived at the scene of a high-priority call within 8 minutes and 50 seconds, says Rouleau. "There's days, unfortunately, when the demand exceeds supply and, well, it's more difficult to respond as quickly as we would like," he said. "We would always like to have more resources but it's linked to budgets." Esterez noted that 18 minutes was a long time, thinking that traffic had something to do with the delay. For him, the lessons of that day are pretty clear: "People should learn CPR and get out of the way [for] the ambulance," he said.
