Montreal Chinatown residents no longer feel their children safe at daycare

Some Chinatown residents say they no longer feel safe in their neighbourhood and that their young children are being exposed to crime and drug use while the City of Montreal is not listening to their pleas for help.

Some Chinatown residents say they no longer feel safe in their neighbourhood and that their young children are being exposed to crime and drug use while the City of Montreal is not listening to their pleas for help.

At the Petite Palais Daycare Centre, a fence surrounding the playground is meant to keep children safe, but it hasn't been able to keep out a growing problem in the neighbourhood.

"Just this week, they found a crack pipe," said parent Phil Chu.

Chu walks his five-year-old to the daycare every day, and nearly every day he's had to explain things he said no child should see.

"I stepped out of my place and with my daughter and we both got a whiff of what crack smells like," he said. "It's not normal."

The daycare has cameras, and there's a security person outside during the day.

Staff also do a sweep each morning to clear drug paraphernalia, human feces and discarded clothes outside the window wells.