Supervised injection sites in Montreal, which had to cut their opening hours for financial reasons, can breathe a little. Quebec announced Friday additional recurring support of $ 1.2 million to organizations that manage these sites, which will however need more funds to meet growing needs in the metropolis.
This amount will be distributed equitably among four Montreal organizations that manage supervised injection sites. These are Specter de rue, Dopamine, L’Anonyme and Cactus, all located in the boroughs of Ville-Marie and Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. This recurring amount of $300,000 per organization will be added to the annual funding for these resources, which is thus increased by 55%.
The Montreal Regional Public Health Department will receive $252,000, in particular to study the possibility of opening supervised injection sites elsewhere in the city.
This announcement took place at the premises of the organization Specter de rue, on rue Ontario Est, in the presence of the minister responsible for social services, Lionel Carmant, and the elected official responsible for the homelessness file on the executive committee of the City of Montreal, Josefina Blanco.
The organizations concerned will thus be able to return to the opening hours they offered before their budget was cut in recent months, indicated the general manager of Specter de rue, Annie Aubertin, who welcomed this “good news”.
In a context of increasing overdoses and homelessness in Montreal, however, this additional funding is insufficient, argued Ms.me Aubertin, who would like supervised injection sites in Montreal to be able to open their doors 24 hours a day.
More details will follow.