MONTREAL — Quebec Immigration and Cultural Communities Minister Kathleen Weil denounced the break-ins and vandalism earlier this month of Val Morin summer homes owned by chassidic Jews as having “every appearance of acts of a hateful and racist character.”

However, by late last week, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) had not labelled the vandalism, which included the painting of swastikas and the slogan “F— juif” on and inside at least two of the houses, a hate-motivated crime, as defined by law.

Many of the rest of the 15 were ransacked or vandalized in other ways on or around April 12 to 15. Nothing was reported stolen.

No one was living in the homes at the time. They’re part of an enclave of about 50 cottages owned by members of the Belzer community of Montreal. The two daubed with antisemitic graffiti were on 17th Avenue.

SQ spokesperson Sgt. Benoît Richard said April 18 on a Montreal radio station that only after the person or people responsible for the crime are arrested and questioned about their reasons can police recommend hate charges to the Crown attorney.

Richard said it’s possible that the vandalism was committed by “kids” who don’t understand the meaning of the swastika or its connection to Jews.

“We are not saying it was not motivated by hate. To be sure it looks like that… but it is too early to say, without a doubt, that it is. It is not our duty to characterize the type of crime. Our job is to investigate and give the Crown attorney the specifications of the crime, and he will decide what charges are to be laid,” Richard said.

He said that the investigation is continuing, and the SQ is working with the Belzer community.

Richard noted that the SQ is currently investigating about 25 incidents in total reported by the Jewish community, not only in Val Morin, but also nearby Val David and Ste. Agathe in the Laurentians.

The SQ does not have a team dedicated to investigating hate crimes, he said, but some investigators are specialists in that field. They have not been called in at this point.

Pinkas Feferkorn, one of the Val Morin residents whose house was broken into, told The CJN that logically this should be termed a hate crime, especially in view of the fact that no robbery occurred.

He’s not sure if applying the term would have any practical effect on how the police handle the case, but he does think it would reassure the community of how seriously it’s being taken.

Feferkorn also thinks the hate crime designation would send a message to the public and to the government that the chassidim of Val Morin are living with prejudice on a daily basis. (The community spends about two months a year in the village.)

“It’s not like in the city. People out there look down on us, like we’re second-class citizens, or strangers. Last summer, every day when the boys were going to yeshiva, somebody went by in a car and yelled ‘juif’ this or that to scare them. 

“Antisemitism is going on here. The police and government try to cover up and say everybody is happy. The government has to fix society.”

Weil, speaking on behalf of the Quebec government, stated April 18 that the Val Morin crime is “unacceptable and does not reflect in any way the values of tolerance and openness of Quebec society.”

D’Arcy McGee Liberal MNA Lawrence Bergman, chair of the government caucus, also condemned what happened.

He said that he’s outraged by the crimes, especially “the hateful graffiti.”

“I wish not only to condemn these acts, but also to condemn all expressions such as these of racism, intolerance, hate and antisemitism. We live in an open and tolerant society in which there is no place whatsoever for these despicable acts which reflect prejudice and discrimination,” Bergman said in a statement.

The day before the Quebec politicians officially responded, the Val Morin “antisemitic” vandalism was denounced by Jason Kenney, federal minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism.

“I join with other Canadians in deploring the cowardly and odious acts of vandalism that targeted Jewish-owned summer homes in Val Morin,” Kenney said.

“Sadly, it is not the first time that hateful individuals have vandalized the property of Val Morin’s Jewish community. This only makes this latest incident all the more disgraceful.”

(The most recent serious similar incident occurred in 2005 when a house used for prayer was trashed, and about 300 sacred books and objects were desecrated.)

The Belzer community has roots in Val Morin going back many decades.