joe beef montreal

Vegan activists just stormed one of Canada's most famous restaurants

One of Canada's most popular restaurants, located in Montreal and known for serving quality meat, was stormed by vegan activists during Saturday night's busy dinner service. 

Joe Beef serves mostly steaks and seafood in Montreal's Little Burgundy neighbourhood. On Saturday, animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere entered the restaurant and demanded they stop serving meat. 

A video posted to Facebook by activist Gabriel Prince shows protesters entering the restaurant holding signs saying "We want animal liberation now," "Animals are not ours," and "Animals are not objects."

In the video, one protester can be heard speaking French before switching to English and saying, "There are no moral or ethical justifications to patronize the killing and exploitation of 2 trillion animals this year alone. We demand that animals be free of all exploitation."

Following the speech, the group of protesters can be heard chanting "It’s not food, it’s violence!" in unison. 

The small protest only lasted a few minutes before activists were escorted out by restaurant employees, and co-owner David Mcmillan said "It's not that bad."

McMillan told Agence QMI that customers were surprised by the disruption, but the restaurant quickly bought a round of sparkling wine for everyone. 

"Inside the restaurant, it's a bit much, but they have the right" McMillan said. "I just think it's a little weird as a target when we work with Quebec producers and there are McDonald's everywhere."

Protesters continued chanting outside the restaurant after being force to leave.

Lead photo by

Gabriel Prince


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