MONTREAL — Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is attacking the Montreal mayor's approach to severe drug addiction and homelessness, accusing her of telling Montrealers to learn to live with "chaos." Poilievre spoke Friday morning near a housing project with a supervised drug-use site west of downtown that has drawn criticism because of its location near an elementary school. He called for the site at Maison Benoît Labre to be immediately shut down, and promised to close other such sites located near schools or playgrounds if he becomes prime minister.
"Here at this beautiful school, we're seeing children terrorized by drugs, by potential violence, by gross sex acts, by needles and other danger," he said, describing the situation as the result of a "wacko liberalization experiment of drug legalization." The site, which opened earlier this year in the St-Henri neighbourhood, includes 36 studio apartments for people experiencing homelessness and living with addiction or mental health issues. Also inside the building is the city's first supervised drug-use site able to accommodate drug inhalation as well as other forms of consumption.
In recent months, parents have told Montreal La Presse that they've seen open drug use and aggressive behaviour as they take their children to and from the elementary school less than 100 metres away. Poilievre took repeated aim at Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he said should use federal.