SULLIVAN RUNS OWN DRUG SHOW

How many federal Tories does it take to convince Stephen Harper to do
something? You may want to ask Mayor Sam Sullivan.

He just added former Tory MP John Reynolds to the board of the Inner
Change Society. That's the non-profit organization Sullivan is
creating to sell Ottawa on a stimulant substitution program to treat
drug addicts. The idea is to "change the drug culture" by
substituting illegal street drugs addicts are now shooting into their
veins with prescription pharmaceutical drugs they can swallow.

Reynolds, who chaired the Tories' 2006 federal election campaign and
will help run the next one, is arguably the most influential
unelected Conservative in the country.

Last week Sullivan announced the appointment of another long-time
Tory, Lois Johnson. She co-chaired the leadership bid by federal
Minister of Health Tony Clement.

Now she'll run this society. Although it hasn't been incorporated and
she has yet to be paid, she hopes to have the project up and running
by the fall.

The plan has never come before council but Sullivan has lobbied
Tories in Ottawa on the issue several times in the past year. Indeed,
he says Clement wants the substitution proposal given to him directly.

Conservatives like the plan for a couple of reasons. Unlike the
supervised injection site it doesn't involve illegal drugs or drug
dealers, and unlike the NAOMI heroin maintenance project it doesn't
involve needles. But most important, it's not something left over by
the Liberals.

What we are seeing being rolled out now has been months in the
planning. Typical of Sullivan's style of operating, much of it has
been done beyond the scrutiny of either city staff or city council.
It is as if public policy is being framed and promoted by a private charity.

The scheme is being financed by private funds, like Sullivan's
campaign slush fund, which is outside the control of the NPA. That
means there is no transparency or accountability.

The spin on all of this is being managed by Sullivan's pal Wayne
Hartrick and his Reputations PR organization.

Hartrick was involved in organizing last November's poll funded by
that campaign slush fund. (The same fund was used to hire another
Tory organizer, George Higgins, to do political work for Sam.)

The poll results showing public support for stimulant substitution
were made public Feb. 9, along with an announcement that Sullivan was
organizing a "group" that was seeking an exemption from Health Canada
to allow doctors to prescribe stimulant substitutes to addicts.

Later that same day Sullivan kicked off a series of three meetings
with members of the Four Pillars Coalition, a group of bureaucrats
and community activists involved with the city's drug policy.

That's where Sullivan rolled out his grand plan and introduced the
crowd to Jackson and Reynolds. On Feb. 15, the next news release
produced a story about Jackson's appointment. That appeared in the
press on the final day of the meetings along with news that Dr. David
Marsh, the head of addiction services with Vancouver Coastal Health,
the Vancouver Coastal Health's medical health officer, Dr. John
Blatherwick, and the province's medical health officer, Dr. Perry
Kendall, had all accepted Sullivan's invitation to sit on the
society's clinical advisory committee.

The mayor is also trying to recruit a "prominent" NDPer to the board
to create a less partisan patina.

There is some consensus that this project can play a small part in
dealing with the city's drug problem. But folks within the NPA,
particularly the Liberals, see Sullivan's continued actions of
private fundraising and embracing Tory operatives in a different
light. They believe he will either take over the NPA all together or,
failing that, turn his back on it and run his own show.