HEALTH MINISTER PAYS VISIT TO VANCOUVER INJECTION SITE

VANCOUVER-- Canada's health minister made his first-ever visit to a
safe-injection site, touring the Insite facility in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside yesterday.

Tony Clement, accused by critics of having a hidden agenda against
such operations, spent about 30 minutes in Insite during his surprise
tour.

Clement strolled through the waiting room, injection room and lounge
of the operation during his tour, chatting with users and staff while
reporters waited outside.

Clement was a tough critic of safe-injection sites as health minister
under former Ontario premier Mike Harris about three years ago, vowing
to keep them out of that province because he preferred anti-drug
education, awareness, treatment and rehab for addicts.

Since entering federal politics, he has been accused of being equally
skeptical.

"I had a good chat with the staff there, understood some of their
procedures, asked a lot of questions, got a lot of answers," Clement
said after his tour.

But he declined to say whether his views had changed.

"I think I am continuing to get a deeper understanding and this is all
part of being the best health minister I can be for the country,"he
said.

Insite, which opened in 2003, faced the prospect of closure last fall
as Clement tried to decide whether to renew an exemption that allows
the use of illegal drugs inside the facility.

He eventually decided to allow Insite to operate through the end of
2007, awaiting studies on supervised injection sites that will help
him decide on its long-term fate.

He defended the fact that he did not visit before making that
ruling.

"It's important for me to accentuate that I am here now,"he
said.

Clement, on the second day of a visit to Vancouver, was previously
non-committal about a visit to the operation, which has been praised
by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan as a
means of controlling the health risks associated with injection drug
use.

But he said the timing was right yesterday because he was also
visiting a nearby Salvation Army detox centre and homeless shelter.

Clement began his tour about 30 minutes after Insite opened for the
day so clients entered and left as he was inside.

"A couple of the clients recognized him," said Chris Buchner, HIV/AIDS
and harm-reduction manager with Vancouver Coastal Health.