FIX FLICK CRUCIAL ISSUE FOR MAYORALTY CANDIDATES TO FIXATE ON

Hearing that Vancouver's mayoral campaign had been summed up in a wild card
independent film made seeing it irresistible.

Nettie Wild's movie Fix was held out as a portrayal of downtown eastside
problems so compelling it was being viewed in political circles across the
country.

I don't know Nettie, but I do know the skids. The film is largely comprised
of Vancouver addicts in action; on streets, in lanes, in meetings or at
whatever they call home. Shooting up dope much of the time -- chasing veins
in regions of the body dear enough to make anyone cringe.

A loose story outline serves as framework: the relationship between heroin
addict Dean Wilson and activist Anne Livingstone. Dean moves from fresh
start to broken resolve in cycles that can't be anything but true.

While Dean is unfamiliar, I do know Anne. I've suffered at her hands over
the years, and have reason to feel resentment, yet she came across as a
person with an overwhelmingly human cause.

Her passion is undeniable. Her loyalty and support for Dean speak of a
large heart, though his presence in her family home speak to at least some
degree of crusader's blindness.

Counterpoint was provided by VPD Sergeant Doug Lang, with commentary from
police cruiser and sidewalk. The Sarge, as he is referred to, rubs elbows
with a businesslike courtesy I borrow from in my own patrol repertoire.

All of which -- the wretched, the pragmatic and enlightened -- have become
the focal point of Vancouver's mayoral election. Mayor Philip Owen is
portrayed as a man of vision, removed from power in an old-school rightist
conspiracy. It would be folly to sit here and say he wasn't.

The pillars: prevention, treatment, education and harm reduction, form a
base upon which reclamation of people and neighbourhoods can rightly stand.

Even someone pushing a block-by-block military campaign can give the nod to
a 360-degree approach. Simply driving addicts out might allow business to
flourish, but it assigns real people the significance of laneway garbage.

Is anyone hard-headed enough to come right out with that? Not this keyboard
cowboy-- and not out of political self-protection. I say bring the pillars
on, whoever holds the reins.

Bring something on. Something other than time spent in discussion, while
people die and a city achieves international notoriety for its inability to
decide.

Bring us all of the pillars while you're at it, please -- not the single
stilt of needles-for-all, or the two-legged table of needles and education.
The geometry is simple: even three of four would provide a platform, but
for this to work, for the structure to weather a storm, we'll need all four.

Fix is a great heads-up, for those who haven't seen the reality.

It's artistic enough, ably produced and scripted, though the Odd Squad's
Through a Blue Lens eclipses it for heart and insight.

I had a hard time sitting all the way through, for unexpected reasons. With
so much live footage, Fix was a lot like being at work for an officer with
a downtown Eastside background. Not boring, and definitely worth checking out.

I'll assume the mayoral candidates have seen it, and I'll wish them all
well. May the best one win, and step right to the plate.

Const. Mark Tonner is a Vancouver police officer. His opinions aren't
necessarily those of the city's police department or the police board.