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Parents concerned over injection site opening near Montreal elementary school

Click to play video: 'Site of new Montreal supervised-injection site causing controversy'
Site of new Montreal supervised-injection site causing controversy
WATCH: A new supervised-injection site in Montreal -- set to open this fall --is causing controversy, due to its location close to a primary school. As Global’s Matt Grillo reports, parents of students at the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School on Plessis Street are worried and considering legal action – Oct 10, 2017

In five days, a supervised injection site will open on Ontario Street, a few blocks away from Marguerite Bourgeoys school.

The location has some parents worried about kids crossing paths with users.

“When drug users are in need, they can be violent,” Stéphanie Cohen, a parent of the school, said. “They can be unpredictable and kids don’t know how to deal with that.”

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In a statement to Global News, the Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux (CIUSSS) said they have taken parents’ concerns and the safety of their children into consideration.

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The provincial agency responsible for the supervised injection site said they’ve modified the opening hours of the injection site and added Montreal police security.

However, the parents would like a formal consultation process to take place.

“We want to stop the opening of the site and to have a clear discussion about what is reasonable for everybody,” Christelle Perrine, a parent of the school, said.

The lawyer representing the parents is Julius Grey who says there are possibilities on the table.

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“You delay the opening,” Grey said. “Or you change the hours [of operation] right away and you look for another place.”

He says court action is a possibility including an injunction.

“They should have consulted, they should have heard the parents,” Grey said. “They should have taken what they said into account. They should have gone somewhere else a little further.”

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