Montreal opposition party calls for public inquiry into deadly fire

The site of the fire at the intersection of Notre-Dame Street East and Bonsecour Street remains cordoned off, surrounded by police and firefighters. Montreal's official opposition, Ensemble Montreal, is calling for a public inquiry into the deadly blaze.

"We ask madame (Valerie) Plante and her administration to make a call for the public security minister, to have a large inquest for all the building that we use, Airbnb uses in this borough, all the other boroughs," said Abdelhaq Sari, the opposition critic for public safety.

Although this building was used as a hostel, Sari said the city needs to tighten its rules when old buildings are used for short-term stays. 

On Friday, the fire department said the buildings - at 400 and 402 Notre-Dame - were up to code.

Sari said that doesn't answer all the questions.

"They say also that there is no problem, that we have some rooms without windows. I don't share the same points," explained the Ensemble Montreal councilor, adding there are other authorities involved.

"You have a permit from the borough, and you have the Régie du bâtiment du Québec and we have the Service d'incendie de Montreal..." he said, highlighting some of the stakeholders who have to provide answers.

The Plante administration wants the opposition to be patient. In a statement, Mayor Valerie Plante's office said:

"The opposition can rest assured, we stood by the minister when he implied that the arson could be the subject of a public inquiry, because we also want to shed light on these fires to find the culprits."