An injection site in a cabinet minister’s riding attracts controversy

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OTTAWA — A new injection and inhalation centre near a Montreal elementary school is angering parents, business owners and residents who want it closed but the federal government and the province aren’t backing down.

For André Lambert, who moved to Saint-Henri 15 years ago, it’s ruining a calm and close-knit community.

“That changed drastically since the Maison Benoit Labre centre has been actually opened,” he said.

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Since April, the centre has provided a safe-consumption centre, 36 transitional apartments, food, clothing and a place to rest. The project required authorization from Health Canada and is carried out at the provincial level in collaboration with municipal authorities.

The centre is located 200 meters from Lambert’s property, across the street from the Atwater Market and near the Lachine Canal National Historic Site, in the heart of Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s riding.

More alarmingly to the residents, it is located 180 meters from the Victor-Rousselot elementary school.

“It’s the children who suffer,” says Chantal Gagnon, a member of the Victor-Rousselot Coalition, who represents dozens of residents, businesses and parents. Ms Gagnon is also a member of the school’s governing board.

“Today our children are being yelled at. We are hypervigilant. Children are being asked for money. We are talking about children aged four to 12 years old,” says Gagnon.

The coalition has listed tens of incidents since the opening of the centre in April such as needles in a playground, public nudity, awkward interactions between children and homeless people, an increase in homelessness, multiple police and paramedic interventions and a growing fear within the community.

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The Montreal Police Service declined to provide a history of calls or interventions linked to the centre for “confidentiality” reasons.

If something happens to one child, every politician will be responsible

Jean Ouimet, the deputy general manager of the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, said in a statement that more than 40 incidents related to the centre occurred at the elementary school since it opened. Ouimet did not specify the nature of those incidents.

“This brings a change to the daily lives of staff already involved and in demand,” wrote Ouimet.

Supporters of the project are delighted that the centre has lifted 36 people out of homelessness. The general manager for the Maison Benoit Labre wasn’t available for an interview, but has recently acknowledged “there are going to be events and there’s going to be adaptation for everyone.”

“But we all need to kind of work together through this,” Andréane Désilets told the Montreal Gazette in May.

The coalition of residents claims the centre was established without the requisite impact studies and now wants politicians to get involved directly.

For instance, Lambert and Gagnon met with Marc Miller, their local MP and federal cabinet minister.

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“He seemed receptive to the plight, I guess, at the issues that we’re having. But whether something happens that’s left to be seen,” said Lambert.

They feel ignored by politicians and “the ones that are responding are basically just gaslighting us,” said Lambert.

Mr Miller’s office said in an email that he “will keep engaging with his constituents, listen to their concerns, and relay them accordingly.”

On June 17, the coalition sent a letter to the provincial social services minister, Lionel Carmant, and a few federal cabinet ministers including Miller, in which they demanded “immediate retraction of the exemption to operate a supervised drug consumption centre.”

Carmant’s office said he intends to respond to the residents promptly.

“This file really is high, high priority to us. And it will remain so until cohesion in the neighbourhood is ensured in the long term,” said Lambert Drainville, Carmant’s press secretary.

The office of Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya’ara Saks said in a statement that “all safe consumption sites are required to have processes in place for ongoing community engagement and to take appropriate mitigation measures to address any concerns especially regarding public safety.”

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Conservatives Leader Pierre Poilievre sent a letter to minister of Health Mark Holland asking him to get involved in this.

On Friday, the Conservative Quebec lieutenant Pierre Paul-Hus said his party promises to “revoke the exemption granted by Justin Trudeau to the supervised injection site in Montreal and bring back safe, drug-free streets where children and families don’t have to fear for their safety.”

There aren’t any laws or regulations in Quebec that prevent a supervised injection service from setting up near a school. Meanwhile, the Société québécoise du cannabis, which is the only legal cannabis retailer in the province, cannot do business within 250 metres of a school.

The Quebec government is looking into this and might change the regulation to better protect kids.

“If something happens to one child, every politician will be responsible. All of them,” said Gagnon.

Health Canada has authorized 38 consumption sites in the country. The Maison Benoit Labre centre is one of the closest to a school, at 180 meters. In Toronto, a few sites are within 200 meters of schools, including the South Riverdale Community Health Centre near Morse Street Junior Public School.

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National Post
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