DION SUPPORTS INSITE DURING LIBERAL LEADER'S VISIT TO VANCOUVER

The leader of the federal party that first supported the Vancouver
safe-injection site wants his opponents to keep it going.

Liberal Opposition Leader Stephane Dion said the Tory government must
follow the science, which, he said, clearly shows the Downtown
Eastside Insite facility is saving lives.

"The site must stay open," Dion said during his Vancouver visit
Friday, flanked by his B.C. caucus members and Insite supporters. "It
depends on the will of the prime minister.

"I ask them to listen to science, not their ideology," he added. "The
science is telling us that this facility is saving lives. It's as
simple as that. It's a matter of life and death for many people."

The Liberals granted permission to open the facility four years ago,
when they were in power. But the Tories are now leaning toward ending
Insite's federal drug-law exemption when it expires June 30. It would
mean curtains for North America's first safe-injection site.

Dion wants its exemption to be indefinite, and would even work with
other Canadian cities who want to open an Insite of their own.

"There is time for a blanket exemption to allow Insite projects to
continue across the country, in cities that are interested in renewing
it," said Vancouver Centre MP Dr. Hedy Fry. "We believe we should
allow other cities to take the benefit of allowing other cities to
doing similar projects."

Health Minister Tony Clement said he hasn't yet made up his mind, and
wants to fully look at the science, but Dion challenged Clement to
name one peer-reviewed study that shows that Insite doesn't work.

University of B.C. Dr. Thomas Kerr, the top researcher for Insite,
said it has improved public order, reduced needle-sharing among
addicts and gotten them treatment.

"The science is in," he said. "This health facility works. It's saved
lives that would have been lost to overdose."

On Friday, Dion addressed Metro Vancouver directors in Burnaby, and
promised them potentially billions of federal dollars to replace aging
infrastructure with greener alternatives.

Dion promised that the first $3 billion of any budget surplus would go
to pay down the debt, and anything left over would go to Canada's
$123-billion infrastructure deficit.

Dion would like to invest in public transit, sewage and water systems
and contaminated sites.

Dion praised B.C. for leading the way on the carbon tax, and said the
country will follow B.C.'s example by shifting tax away from income
and corporate taxation toward fossil-fuel use.

"I think it's a bold decision, and it shows B.C. is able to initiate
great changes," he said.

Dion also said he would try to find other sources of revenue for
cities other than property taxes, which hurt middle-income earners and
the working poor.

"The property tax is the source of revenue for our big cities, at the
rate of 80 or 90 per cent," he said. "It's not healthy for the
country, with all the responsibilities that municipalities have."

Dion yesterday attended a Liberal luncheon in Richmond.