The social housing and supervised drug inhalation center project worries citizens in the Saint-Henri neighborhood in Montreal, which pushes many elected officials, community groups, organizations and parents in the neighborhood to show their support and write letters to the attention of the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant.
The proximity of the overdose prevention center to a primary school arouses concern and protest, which has led Minister Carmant to ask for several weeks for opponents to be reassured so that there is social acceptability.
“In the South-West, we cannot do without a resource for homelessness and assistance for the most vulnerable people at the moment,” says the member for Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne under the banner of Québec solidaire, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, who sent a letter on Friday to the attention of Mr. Carmant.
The one who lives with his family a few blocks from the project site says he understands the concerns and has met several residents. “I am reassured by the measures that have been put in place and will be put in place by Maison Benoît Labre [qui est derrière le projet], he said. I am convinced that all stakeholders will put 200% effort into making this go as smoothly as possible.”
The Liberal MP for the Ville-Marie — Le Sud-Ouest — Île-des-Soeurs riding and federal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller, also maintains his support for the project, confirmed his aide press at Duty. “The objective of this initiative is intended to be holistic, it is in no way a question of harming the neighborhood, but of providing an appropriate place so that those who already wander the streets of Saint-Henri / Little Burgundy can be followed and surrounded by professionals, we can read in a letter expressing his support. It is expected that services are adequately offered.”
Mr. Miller says he recognizes the concerns of certain people, but mentions working collaboratively “to build a safer and healthier neighborhood for everyone.”
Secure financing
For his part, the mayor of the South-West district, Benoit Dorais, recognizes that “constant dialogue” is necessary with the population, as well as “sustained efforts to ensure social cohabitation”. “We take very seriously [les craintes] expressed by the parents, he assures in a written declaration sent to the Duty. For our part, we are doing everything possible to minimize the impacts for residents and businesses, he said. Opening this resource is necessary to limit the impacts of the opioid crisis.”
A park frequented by children separates the school from the building where the drug inhalation center will be located, which does not please parents at all. In a letter to the minister, the mayor and other elected officials of the district specify that developments have been undertaken to better control access to the park. The district also funds a resource to ensure presence during student circulation times, as well as a cleanliness brigade.
Elected officials hope that the impacts of the project will be positive. But, “to achieve this, we are counting on the support of your ministry in order to provide the financial means necessary for the organization to ensure social intervention both inside and outside the resource,” we write.
Voices of parents with children attending Victor-Rousselot primary school are also raised in favor of the project, as well as a multitude of community organizations in the South-West and in Montreal.
“Upstream we met with Maison Benoît Labre and we developed workshops and ways of intervening with children,” underlines Céline Berck, director of Prévention Sud-Ouest, which organizes urban safety workshops in the schools, in particular. “Zero risk does not exist,” she admits, however.
The shadow of the Cactus supervised injection center looms large and residents fear the constant presence of drug addicts, incivility and threats. ” The model [dans Saint-Henri] is different,” replies Mme Berk. “There are a range of services and intervention mechanisms around the center which are put in place upstream to prevent a potential overflow,” she adds.
Many point out the fact that Specter de rue has set up a supervised consumption service, “without this causing any problems”. “We even noticed a reduction in harm and no incidents were reported, even though there was also a school nearby. This is an encouraging example,” writes the mother of a child who attends Victor-Rousselot primary school, in Saint-Henri.
Michel Primeau, director of the organization Street Work / Community Action (TRAC), emphasizes for his part that the pandemic has thrown people onto the street and that overdoses in the southwest of Montreal “have really increased” in the recent years and there are more people consuming outside.
If TRAC signs a letter to the attention of the minister, “it is so that [le projet] can work.” “The building is practically finished, but if we don’t have the funding for the intervention, it won’t work,” says Mr. Primeau. The goal is for the center to always be open. “If it’s not open 24/7, that’s where it becomes problematic,” he said. The director of TRAC emphasizes that there will also be a third speaker in the Saint-Henri district to tour the area.