Montreal officials are asking the Quebec government to relocate the city’s first supervised drug-inhalation facility, located less than 100 metres from an elementary school in the Saint-Henri neighbourhood, before the start of the school year.
Maison Benoît Labre operates the site near the Atwater market, only steps from Victor-Rousselot elementary school, which counts 300 students from preschool through Grade 6.
The centre drew criticism from residents before it opened in April and in the months following, with some parents saying they were blindsided by the decision to have the centre in a building so close to their children’s school.
At a city council meeting Monday, Anthony Capanelli, a resident of the Sud-Ouest borough who lives near the site, said people in the area are worried about back to school. He asked borough mayor Benoit Dorais to explain what measures are being taken to address the problems.
Dorais, who is also the city’s executive committee member responsible for housing, acknowledged there are difficulties between residents and users of the day centre, despite the implementation of various measures to try to improve cleanliness and cohabitation.
“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of incivility, and cohabitation is much more difficult,” Dorais said.
He said he’s asked Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant about moving the day centre’s activities “to a more suitable location” before students return to school, adding the borough is willing to help find a site for the essential supervised drug-inhalation service.
Last month, Montreal announced plans to launch a public consultation process in hopes of finding ways to live “harmoniously” with the city’s unhoused population. The city is aiming to promote social cohabitation while providing resources and services to the homeless population, especially in neighbourhoods that aren’t used to that reality.
While answering the borough resident’s question on Monday, Dorais emphasized that the issue is with the drug-inhalation site, not the homeless shelter.
“It’s really what is associated with the day centre that creates the most difficulty with the residents, that creates insecurity,” he said.
In a statement to CBC, a spokesperson for Carmant’s office said the government is in favour of relocating the centre’s day services, noting that despite “all the efforts made,” cohabitation issues remain.
The government said it will work with all the players involved to help with the relocation, “however, we expect the city to propose several alternative sites to avoid a concentration of services.”
Maison Benoît Labre also provides housing with 36 studio apartments, a kitchen and drop-in centre space for the organization to provide a range of social services to those in need.