Latest news with #LionelCarmant
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Rally in opposition to Bill No. 103 "whose primary purpose is to regulate supervised consumption sites in order to promote harmonious coexistence with the community"
TIOHTIA:KE, QC, MONTRÉAL, June 2, 2025 /CNW/ - On the eve of the parliamentary debates on Bill 103, the Association Québécoise pour la Promotion de la Santé des Personnes Utilisateurs de Drogues (AQPSUD) and the Association pour la Défense des Droits et l'Inclusion des personnes qui Consommation des drogues du Québec (ADDICQ) are joining forces to denounce a direct attack on the rights and health of people who use drugs. To make their demands heard, a rally will be held this Tuesday, June 3, at 2 p.m., at the Fontaine de Tourny in front of the National Assembly. While they talk, we die On May 6, 2025, Lionel Carmant, Health and Social Services Minister, introduced Bill 103. Since then, many groups have expressed their opposition to a bill that unnecessarily increases the administrative burden on organizations working in harm reduction and homelessness. Again, elected officials have chosen to talk about us, without us. Even though supervised consumption services have proven to be effective in the fight against the overdose crisis, the minister is proposing a legislative framework without any consultation, thereby jeopardizing human lives and the fragile social safety net that supports them. Bill 103 also shifts responsibility for "social co-existence" to organizations, while reinforcing the stigma of people who use drugs and those who are homeless. It reflects a chronic mistrust of community expertise and challenges its autonomy. It is time for the voices of those most affected to be heard, because it is they—we—who die when the government complicates access to services. Time is running out to destigmatize History has shown that prohibition drives people to use in isolation, which increases the risks. Too often, supervised consumption sites are the only safe spaces available. By compromising their operations, Bill 103 threatens to force many of them out of business, putting lives at risk. We are calling for the complete abandonment of this bill and a clear shift toward the decriminalization of drugs. There is an urgent need to invest heavily in affordable housing accessible to everyone and in harm reduction services, and to ensure the full inclusion of people who use drugs in the development of policies that affect them. "The perception persists that repressive approaches will overcome drug consumption or drug use. It is time to change the paradigm and come up with more appropriate solutions. " -Mario Gagnon, Chief Executive Officer of Point de Repères, at a citizens' meeting organized by L'Engrenage Saint-Roch: SOURCE AQPSUD View original content: Sign in to access your portfolio
Cision Canada
3 days ago
- Health
- Cision Canada
Rally in opposition to Bill No. 103 "whose primary purpose is to regulate supervised consumption sites in order to promote harmonious coexistence with the community" Français
TIOHTIA:KE, QC, MONTRÉAL, June 2, 2025 /CNW/ - On the eve of the parliamentary debates on Bill 103, the Association Québécoise pour la Promotion de la Santé des Personnes Utilisateurs de Drogues (AQPSUD) and the Association pour la Défense des Droits et l'Inclusion des personnes qui Consommation des drogues du Québec (ADDICQ) are joining forces to denounce a direct attack on the rights and health of people who use drugs. To make their demands heard, a rally will be held this Tuesday, June 3, at 2 p.m., at the Fontaine de Tourny in front of the National Assembly. While they talk, we die On May 6, 2025, Lionel Carmant, Health and Social Services Minister, introduced Bill 103. Since then, many groups have expressed their opposition to a bill that unnecessarily increases the administrative burden on organizations working in harm reduction and homelessness. Again, elected officials have chosen to talk about us, without us. Even though supervised consumption services have proven to be effective in the fight against the overdose crisis, the minister is proposing a legislative framework without any consultation, thereby jeopardizing human lives and the fragile social safety net that supports them. Bill 103 also shifts responsibility for "social co-existence" to organizations, while reinforcing the stigma of people who use drugs and those who are homeless. It reflects a chronic mistrust of community expertise and challenges its autonomy. It is time for the voices of those most affected to be heard, because it is they—we—who die when the government complicates access to services. Time is running out to destigmatize History has shown that prohibition drives people to use in isolation, which increases the risks. Too often, supervised consumption sites are the only safe spaces available. By compromising their operations, Bill 103 threatens to force many of them out of business, putting lives at risk. We are calling for the complete abandonment of this bill and a clear shift toward the decriminalization of drugs. There is an urgent need to invest heavily in affordable housing accessible to everyone and in harm reduction services, and to ensure the full inclusion of people who use drugs in the development of policies that affect them. "The perception persists that repressive approaches will overcome drug consumption or drug use. It is time to change the paradigm and come up with more appropriate solutions. " -Mario Gagnon, Chief Executive Officer of Point de Repères, at a citizens' meeting organized by L'Engrenage Saint-Roch:
Montreal Gazette
08-05-2025
- Health
- Montreal Gazette
Front-line organizations sound alarm after Quebec moves to limit safe consumption sites
By Organizations on the front lines of the overdose crisis sounded alarm bells Thursday over a bill that would ban safe consumption sites within 150 metres of schools and daycares — and could potentially extend those same restrictions to any centre offering services to unhoused Quebecers. A letter signed by 25 local and national organizations, including the Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec (AIDQ) and Doctors of the World Canada, says the bill 'could hinder access to essential services' for those who consume drugs or are unhoused. Tabled by Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant Tuesday, Bill 103 follows controversy over the 2024 opening of Maison Benoît Labre, a supervised drug consumption and transitional housing centre close to Victor-Rousselot elementary school in St-Henri. If passed, the legislation would ban safe consumption sites within a 150-metre radius of a school or daycare and give the minister authority to extend that ban to centres serving unhoused populations, such as shelters. It would also grant the minister veto power over proposed facilities, regardless of proximity to a school or daycare. A similar ban on supervised consumption sites near schools and daycares was passed by the Ontario legislature in 2024. In March, an Ontario judge suspended its implementation pending a charter challenge. The Coalition Avenir Québec government's bill comes at a time when overdose deaths in the province are at a high. The Institut national de santé publique du Québec reports that overdoses killed 645 people in 2024, a 20 per cent increase from 2023. 'Our initial reaction was to be stunned,' said AIDQ chair Louis Letellier de St-Just. 'This bill makes no sense and follows no logic.' 'We've weakened the work of safe consumption services, the work of organizations caring for unhoused people,' he said. 'At 150 metres, we don't have much room to manoeuvre in a city like Montreal.' With the door left open to the ban extending to any services for unhoused people and an option for the minister to veto any proposed safe consumption site, front-line organizations are unsure of how the bill would be applied, he said. 'Personally, I'm deeply irritated,' said de St-Just, who co-founded the harm reduction organization Cactus Montreal and has worked in front-line social services for over 36 years. Carmant didn't consult with any of the 25 organizations that signed the letter, he said. He said he understands concerns about safe consumption sites operating near schools and daycares, but that the bill is the wrong approach. 'These organizations aren't ignorant, they're not insensitive to the difficulties that their clientele can introduce to an environment,' de St-Just said. But 'they need to go where services are required.' Ultimately, 'these are health services' that are being threatened, he said. Those providing services that respond to homelessness and the overdose crisis 'are not responsible for those crises. On the contrary, we mitigate their effects.' Maison Benoît Labre opened in an area where homelessness already existed, de St-Just said, and took dozens of people off the streets. 'Of course there are improvements to be made. But instead of passing a bill, we could have established directives, had discussions that could have facilitated social cohesion.' Front-line workers are bearing the brunt of the blame, he said, 'but it's thanks to them that we're able to diminish loss of life.'
Global News
06-05-2025
- Health
- Global News
Quebec to set 150-metre limit between schools and supervised injection sites
The Quebec government has tabled legislation that would ensure a minimum 150-metre distance between supervised injection sites and schools and daycares. Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant says the bill would grant his department new powers to approve or refuse a new site allowing the supervised consumption of drugs. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The minister tabled the legislation following some controversy over Montreal's first supervised drug-inhalation centre run by Maison Benoît Labre, a local non-profit. The site provides a centre for people experiencing homelessness as well as a supervised drug-use site, not far from a local school. The Quebec government is in favour of sites offering evidence-based harm reduction services and says it has a duty to provide safe spaces for everyone who uses the sites as well as those who live nearby. The department says the number of safe consumption sites increased from four in 2020 to 14 in 2024, the year the province recorded at least 485 deaths linked to suspected opioid or drug poisoning.
CTV News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Quebec to set 150-metre limit between schools and supervised injection sites
Quebec Social Services Minister Lionel Carmant tables a legislation at the legislature in Quebec City, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)
