The minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant, says he is working to relocate the Maison Benoît Labre day centre, which welcomes homeless people near an elementary school, in the Saint-Henri district. But the establishment says it intends to maintain the same services.
“We will continue to work with all stakeholders involved to enable the relocation of the day centre,” confirmed the minister’s press attaché, Andréanne Lajoie, by email on Tuesday morning.
The day before, the mayor of the South-West district, Benoit Dorais, had revealed to the municipal council that he had asked Minister Carmant to move the center’s daytime activities to a more “suitable” location, further from the Victor-Rousselot primary school and the adjacent park.
Also read “Montreal requests the relocation of the day center”
This request does not concern the supervised drug consumption centre offered by Maison Benoît Labre, nor the 36 studios where former homeless people live.
It is believed that the cohabitation problems are mainly caused by the high number of people at the day centre, where meals, a respite centre and showers are offered.
“However, we expect the city to offer us several alternative sites to avoid a concentration of services,” added the minister’s spokesperson.
But the director of Maison Benoît Labre, Andréane Desilets, who refused to grant us an interview, does not seem to be preparing to move services.
We continue to ask for the full cooperation of all our partners, including the City of Montreal, to continue providing services that are essential and save lives.
Andréane Desilets, director of Maison Benoît Labre, in a written response to our requests
“In recent months, we have put several measures in place to limit the effects on the neighbourhood through various measures, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the SPVM, the CIUSSS and the Regional Public Health Department.”
Precisely, when explaining his request for a relocation of services, Benoit Dorais said he had noticed that the measures put in place were not having the desired effect and that the neighbourhood was living in anxiety, especially as the start of the school year approached.
“We note that the issues of cohabitation remain despite all the efforts that have been made,” also acknowledges Minister Carmant’s press attaché.