OPPOSITION MPS WARN TORIES OF VOTER BACKLASH IN B.C. ON SAFE INJECTION SITE

A divisive federal politics debate is heating up on the Hill over a
Vancouver safe injection site, with local opposition MPs now warning
the federal government that if it does not renew the site, it will
create a backlash among voters in the province.

Opposition MPs are calling on the Tory government to renew an
exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for Insite,
Vancouver's safe-injection site, where drug addicts can inject
themselves in a controlled environment, and which expires on June
30th. NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.), whose riding
includes Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, where Insite is located, as
well as Liberal MP Keith Martin (Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, B.C.), told
The Hill Times last week that if the government does not renew the
exemption, thereby shutting down Insite, that B.C. Conservatives will
face a backlash from B.C. voters in the next election.

"I just feel like we're up against this big wall; they've put
themselves in this political box about their drug policy and they
need to just respect the evidence that comes out and the research
that's been done. Having Insite continue is not going to kill the
Conservatives. They'll still have their following with people who
don't agree with it, but if they don't let it go ahead, they're going
to cause an enormous backlash in Vancouver, politically," said Ms. Davies.

But Conservative MP James Moore (Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam,
B.C.) said he doesn't think people in B.C. feel as strongly as Ms.
Davies and Mr. Martin claim. "I don't think public opinion is
absolute on that question. There's a lot of debate in British
Columbia, and [Mr. Martin and Ms. Davies] should know that British
Colombians are not unanimous in their opinion of Insite," he said.

Mr. Moore said the government has put forward millions of dollars for
victims of substance abuse and that the issue goes broader than just
Insite. "I understand the Liberals and NDP are just focusing on that
one issue.... We're grappling with it in a more substantial way
rather than just focusing on Insite," he said.

The exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, whereby
public health workers provide drug-users with clean needles as well
as offering assistance in case of an overdose, has previously been
temporarily extended twice.

"The first extension was because they needed more research, they
needed to see if it was encouraging people to use drugs, or
increasing crime, or increasing a honey pot effect.... Then what
happened is that they decided to offer some money for research, and
then the second extension was because the research wasn't in. Neil
Boyd, the politically appointed adviser, was in Ottawa presenting his
results directly to the public, I think last Monday or the Monday
before that and he said Insite should stay open," said Mark Townsend,
who works for the community group that runs Insite in cooperation
with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.

Prof. Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Vancouver's Simon Fraser
University, was commissioned by the federal government last year to
examine Insite's impact on crime rates in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"Crime rates were quite unaffected by the implementation of
Insite.... In fact, we found some improvements in public order with
respect to decreased injection debris, decreased injections around
the site and those findings simply corroborated other research that
had been carried out prior to our study," Prof. Boyd told CTV News on
May 5, the day he presented his report.

His report also concluded that Insite is cost effective; and that for
every $1 spent on the centre, up to $4 of taxpayers' money is saved.
He found as well that the harm reduction facility lowered the risk of
contracting diseases like HIV, which can be spread through needle
sharing; that drug-users who visit Insite are more likely to enter
treatment programs; and that deaths due to drug-overdoses have been
averted because staff are on hand to intervene.

When asked outside the House on Wednesday about when the government
is going to make a decision on whether to extend Insite's exemption,
Health Minister Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka) didn't have an answer.

"I can't respond today, but there will be an answer soon," he said.
When The Hill Times asked Mr. Clement if the government was waiting
for a specific piece of research to help in the decision making
process, he said he couldn't comment. "What I can tell you is that
our government has led by producing a new national anti-drug
strategy. Its elements not only include enforcement issues but also
two-thirds of the money goes to prevention initiatives such as our
national anti-drug television campaign as well as treatment. Just
today, I announced $10-million in treatment services with the
government of B.C. as our partner for the Downtown Eastside. We
really want to get people off drugs, we want to make sure kids and
other Canadians don't get on drugs and that's a central, core element
of our strategy," the minister said.

During a debate in the Senate on the issue of the Insite exemption,
Ontario Senator and the Leader of the Government in the Senate,
Marjory LeBreton echoed the minister's remarks.

"The minister is currently studying the issue and a decision will be
made as soon as possible," she said. "Having said that, it is
important to point out that the government has taken major steps on
the whole issue of drug abuse. On April 28, we announced the Drug
Treatment Funding Program, which provides $111-million over five
years to provincial and territorial governments to boost drug
treatment that is available to young people who are at risk."

But Ms. Davies said she thinks the government's delay in making a
decision is more strategic than constructive. "What [Mr. Clement]
means when he says he wants more research is that he's stalling for
time. They're either afraid to make a decision or they're just
looking for something that doesn't exist. The research has been done,
the evidence is in, it's time to make a decision based on objective
public policy."

Mr. Martin agreed. He said he believes government's plan is to try
and eliminate harm-reduction from Canada's drug strategy all
together. "I believe the government is putting on short-term
extensions, so if they get a majority government they can kill [safe
injection sites] all together."

Mr. Martin, who is also physician, said he worked in detox centres in
B.C. on and off for 12 years and that seeing the "ravages of
addiction" is what has made him such an advocate of Insite and other
harm-reduction strategies.

"If the government fails to allow communities across Canada to have
supervised injection, they will be committing murder. They will be
allowing people to die that could have been saved," he said. "We have
a moral obligation to help drug addicts."

Mr. Martin said he believes the Conservative government's opposition
to Insite is rooted in an ideological aversion to the concept of harm
reduction as a way of dealing with drug abuse, which he said is
"appalling." He added: "The government takes an ideological moral
position against addicts. I believe it's a medical issue."

Ms. Davies said that although the Downtown Eastside represents only
about 10 per cent of her riding, she has received "overwhelming" and
positive feedback from her constituents.

"The main thing that has been to make it clear to the minister of
health that he's the only one now standing in the way of Insite.
Everyone else in Canada agrees with it. It really doesn't have any
opposition; the police union in Vancouver has some issues with it but
even the Vancouver police department supports Insite, local business
people support Insite, the mayor supports Insite, the premier of the
province supports Insite. I mean it's ridiculous this stance that
they're taking," she said.

Both Ms. Davies and Mr. Townsend said that "ideological" opposition
to harm reduction is nothing new. "It's fine for people like [Liberal
MP] Ujjal Dosanjh [Vancouver South, B.C.] to get up and attack
Stephen Harper [Calgary Southwest, Alta.] on this, but when he was
the health minister, he wasn't in favour of this. But he has now
shown the maturity to realize he was wrong, and he's not a doctor,
he's not a scientist, he's not a nurse, he's not a public health
expert, and he now supports it," said Mr. Townsend.

Ms. Davies said that although the concept of Insite is initially
unsavoury to some people, the evidence of its effectiveness is so
compelling that the vast majority of people who are informed about
it, support it. "When I first started advocating for a safe-injection
facility, before it opened up, I had people tell me I'd never get
re-elected. I had people tell me I was crazy if I went out on this
issue, that if I started advocating for drug users and drug policy
reform, I'd never get re-elected, and I guess I felt like I needed to
get out there and speak the truth about what's going on with our drug
laws in Canada. I saw what happened with the criminalization of poor
drug users in my community. I mean it wasn't solving the problem. It
was only creating more harm, so I became outspoken and an advocate
for it, and I've seen the support just grow and grow and grow," she said.

The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Portland Hotel
Society, the community groups that run Insite, have launched a
constitutional challenge that is currently being heard by the B.C.
Supreme Court. "The question is, is this a health issue that is in
the purview of the province, or is it a federal government thing? Our
argument, of course, is that it is a provincial thing and their
argument is that it's got nothing to do with health. Their argument
basically makes no sense," said Mr. Townsend.

The community groups are hoping the court will find that Insite is a
health facility, and therefore it would be up to province whether or
not it remains open. "I'm not sure when the decision will be but
obviously if they were successful in that it would make a big impact
because it wouldn't need the exemption," said Ms. Davies.

Ms. Davies said she doesn't know when the court will hand down a
ruling but that she thinks the case has a "pretty good chance."

"We're really trying to say to Stephen Harper this shouldn't be about
politics, this shouldn't be about ideology, this needs to be about
public health," said Mr. Townsend.

The government will decide whether Insite continues if the court does
not issue a decision before June 30.