Advocates say politicians are using Montreal safe drug-use site to score points

A non-profit organization that advocates for equality in the health and social services sector is calling on all levels of government to "stop playing politics on the backs of people experiencing homelessness."

The RIOCM (Regroupement intersectoriel des organismes communautaires de Montréal) said officials are using the safe drug-use site near an elementary school - the Maison Benoit Labre - in Montreal's St. Henri neighbourhood to score political points without having empathy and pragmatism towards the homelessness issue in the city.

"Elected officials, from Pierre Poilièvre to the Projet Montréal administration and the Minister of Social Services, are passing the buck rather than working together," wrote RIOCM coordinator Marie-Andree Painchaud Mathieu. "They have turned the Maison Benoit Labre into a tool in their sad political game."

Residents in the area immediately questioned the announcement last fall that a safe drug-use site and apartments for homeless people would open next to Victor-Rousselot Elementary School.

Since it opened in April, issues have arisen, including open-air drug use, sex and harassment near the site.

Federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre hosted a news conference at the site in July, blasting Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante's approach to homelessness and repeatedly called the site a "drug den."

Welcome Hall Mission CEO Sam Watts called Poilievre's comments "most unfortunate."

"I hate to see mainstream politicians who instrumentalize fear because what that leads to ultimately is bad public policiy, and it also leads to conclusions that are simply not correct," said Watts.

Watts, similar to the RIOCM letter, said politicians need to be more careful about the language they use when referring to the homeless or other marginalized populations.

"Sometimes leaders, having not fully understood an issue, are willing to tap into very legitimate fears that people have, and make a variety of remarks that really are not appropriate and not helpful," said Watts.

On Tuesday, Southwest borough mayor Benoit Dorais said the situation has become unacceptable and asked Quebec Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant to relocate the centre.

According to the organization's annual report for 2022-2023, the non-profit receives funding from the Montreal, Quebec and Canadian governments, in addition to multiple Quebec ministers, including Premier Francois Legault, who donated between $500 and $2,999. Carmant donated between $10,000 and $19,000.

The RIOCM is calling out the centre's critics for using homelessness to score political points and not taking on their share of responsibility to address the societal issue.

"Through their rhetoric, they are perpetuating prejudice against people who are already marginalized, even going so far as to put their lives in danger," said Painchaud Mathieu. "The community is witnessing this sad spectacle, even as it struggles on the ground with inadequate funding."

Painchaud Mathieu added that "concerns of citizens are feeding the media" and that no one will win by stigmatizing homeless people.

"When politicians throw La Maison Benoit Labre under the bus, they are undermining the entire community. Who will be foolish enough to develop new resources and endure this treatment?" said Painchaud Mathieu.

More than 30 people are living at the residence full time and between six and eight people use the safe drug-use site every day, the City of Montreal said.

Painchaud Mathieu's letter is asking politicians from leaving community groups alone and let them do their job.

"Better still, they should make every effort to support them, to work alongside them as they have seemed to do up to now," he wrote. "Can anyone explain to us the legal basis for forcing an autonomous organization, and an owner at that, to move? And to move where? If they fail to provide us with suitable premises that meet their criteria of acceptability (acceptable to whom?), we invite the politicians to put their egos aside and fight with us against poverty, rather than against poor people."