Suspicious package discovered in Laval

A suspicious package discovered near a constituency office in Laval kept police and the bomb squad busy Friday morning.

A barbecue propane tank with plastic bottles strapped to it along with a cell phone – was discovered by an employee at the main entrance of 400 St-Martin Boulevard at 7:50 a.m.

The bomb squad was called and roughly 50 people were evacuated from the office building, along with some businesses and nearby homes, located in the Laval des Rapides area.

Two kilometres of St. Martin Boulevard was also closed to traffic between Industrial and Des Laurentides boulevards. It re-opened at 12:30 p.m.

The building where the package was spotted contains the office of Quebec Liberal MNA and junior finance minister Alain Paquet.

A spokesperson for Paquette’s office says he has not been the object of any threats.

“Was he the target? There’s absolutely nothing here that makes us believe that he was the person intended,’ said Laval police Constable Frank DiGenova.

The bomb squad used a robot to evaluate the package. An officer was then able to disarm it. No note was left.

The package resembled an object that was found outside Outrement’s city hall on Tuesday.

Investigators determined the contents of that package were not dangerous.

On Thursday, businesses in the area felt the impact of the evacuation and road closure.

“They told us to leave and they didn’t tell us anything in the beginning,” said Casa Greque restaurant manager Steve Vrontakis.

The restaurant was forced to stay closed, which meant cooks couldn’t prepare any food.

“Friday lunch is the busiest lunch because it’s the last day of the work so everybody goes out for lunch… it did some damage,” said Vrontakis.

At a garage in the area, Claude Gourde said the company was forced to reschedule appointments and turn away customers.