Supervised injection centers: a bill to keep them away from schools and daycares

A minimum distance to be maintained from schools and daycares could be imposed on injection centers supervised by Quebec.

The Liberal MP for Saint-Laurent, Marwah Rizqy, tabled a bill in the National Assembly on Wednesday along these lines.

If adopted in its current form, supervised injection centers would be prohibited within 250 meters of schools, except in Montreal, where this distance would be 150 meters.

Organizations offering supervised consumption services would benefit from a period of two years following the adoption of the bill to comply with this new directive.

The government could also refuse to grant a permit to a new daycare if its premises are located within one of these radii.

“The parliamentary session is coming to an end and the Liberal Party is offering the bill to the government,” Ms. Rizqy said on the social network X. “You can even erase my name, the important thing is to legislate promptly.”

The tabling of this bill comes following situations of difficult cohabitation between supervised injection centers and schools or daycares in recent months, mainly in Montreal.

The new premises of Maison Benoît Labre, in particular, in the Saint-Henri district, have attracted a lot of attention in recent months.

Many parents whose children attend the neighboring school of this day center have repeatedly denounced its arrival and the situations they have faced since its opening.

His move was requested by local elected officials, but with current regulations, relocation promises to be difficult.

A similar situation occurred in Trois-Rivières, where the Tandem organization is located near a CPE.