POLICE CHIEF, EX-MAYOR ARE JUST PLAYING POLITICS WITH SULLIVAN PROBE

Vancouver's hard-fought mayoral election is over, but it appears
several notables think otherwise.

According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Sgt. John Ward,
Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham asked the RCMP to decide whether
a criminal investigation is warranted following admissions by
mayor-elect Sam Sullivan that he supplied addicts with money for drugs.

Joining the police chief in dredging up Sullivan's past behaviour was
departing Mayor Larry Campbell, who admitted to writing to B.C.
Solicitor-General John Les to express concerns about about Sullivan's
suitability to sit on the police board. Since the mayor is
automatically chair of the board, Campbell said he wanted an opinion
on whether it was appropriate for Sullivan to assume the position.

Les didn't respond to Campbell's request, and that's entirely
appropriate since what the solicitor-general thinks is irrelevant:
It's up to the people of Vancouver, and only the people of Vancouver,
to decide who they want as mayor, and by extension, as head of the
police board. And they were fully aware of Sullivan's involvement in
supplying money to drug addicts when they made their choice.

Campbell, who spent three years as chair of the board, obviously
knows this. Even worse, Campbell's reasoning here seems more than a
little specious.

Campbell was, after all, head of the police board when he championed
the supervised injection facility, which allows the city to provide
addicts with a safe place to engage in what would otherwise be
illegal behaviour. Chairman Campbell also supported the practice of
providing addicts with clean needles, which seems remarkably similar
to supplying addicts with money to buy drugs.

Graham's behaviour is similarly suspect. Sullivan first told The Sun
of his drug-related behaviour five years ago, but Graham only took
action during Sullivan's run for mayor.

Further, Sullivan didn't exactly endear himself to the police
department with comments he made during his campaign. In response to
claims that the department needs more police officers, Sullivan said
it should implement internal efficiencies before it receives more
funds for hiring.

The demand for fiscal responsibility seems eminently reasonable,
especially given that the police department has frequently run over
budget. Nevertheless, Sullivan's comments drew the ire of police
union president Tom Stamatakis, who also questioned whether
Sullivan's past behaviour compromised his ability to lead the police
board. But to his credit, Stamatakis, in a subsequent letter to The
Sun, agreed that it was up to voters to choose.

Given these circumstances, one need not be a jaded cynic to conclude
that it looks like Graham and Campbell are still playing politics,
and they're doing their best to undo the people's choice of police
board chair. But it's time for Graham to get on with serving and
protecting the public, and he can begin by accepting the will of the people.