Daniel Matte ditched his car and moved to the Village in Montreal eight years ago to live out his retirement. These days, he said he spends much of his time trying to speak up for the citizens and businesses in his neighbourhood as a member of the conseil d’administration de l’Association citoyenne du Village de Montréal (ACVMTL). “The citizens phone me, the citizens speak with me in the park and in the street,” he said. Their concerns centre around Spectre de rue, a supervised drug consumption site that opened on Ontario Street in 2017. According to Matte, incidents of illicit drug use, trafficking and violence have increased in the last two years and it’s affecting social cohesion. “Some people say to me, ‘You have no heart.’” he said, adding “But what can we do?” The ACVMTL wants to make safe consumption sites an election issue. They are proposing to integrate these services into Sante Quebec. The group suggests moving Spectre de rue to nearby Notre Dame Hospital, on Sherbrooke Street, saying it is better able to deal with the complex health needs of drug users. The group is also asking for an independent report on criminal activities around consumption sites to better understand what is going on, and for the province to reimburse the City of Montreal for the money it has spent on security and cleanup. Spectre de rue did not respond to CTV’s request for an interview. Matte said citizens will be ready to speak up at next Wednesday’s candidate’s debate in Sainte-Marie-Saint-Jacques. “If you don’t live here, you don’t know what’s happened here, okay? you have to live here every, every day to see what the problem on the street is,” he said.
