MR. OWEN GOES TO OTTAWA

Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen received accolades in Parliament, lobbied four
cabinet ministers for drug help and attended a screening of an in-your-face
drug film yesterday in Ottawa.

Vancouver Centre MP Hedy Fry rose in the House of Commons to pay tribute to
Owen's campaign to help the drug addicts on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"The distinguishing feature of Philip Owen's career as mayor is his vision
and courage in implementing an innovative solution to the growing open-drug
problem in our city," said Fry. "Modelled on the successful approach of
some large European cities, treating substance abuse as a health problem,
he established a comprehensive, integrated strategy with four pillars:
Prevention, enforcement, treatment and harm reduction.

"He raised his voice for the forgotten and voiceless of our city. Philip
Owen is not seeking re-election, but his legacy will endure."

Owen is attempting to pry money from federal coffers, and met with cabinet
ministers Anne McLellan, Allan Rock and David Collenette after an earlier
meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Rock even introduced Owen at a screening of Nettie Wild's film Fix, an
unflinching look at the social decay and rampant drug use in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside.

Owen hopes the screening of the film, in which he is featured, will help
convince the feds to come up with a sizeable contribution to clean up the mess.

"Ottawa is listening, Ottawa is paying attention," he said last night at
the screening.

The mayor estimates that up to $30 million per year is needed to fulfill
the needs of the 'four pillars' program -- treatment, prevention,
harm-reduction and enforcement.

The squalor and public consumption of illegal drugs has become a key issue
in the upcoming Vancouver civic elections, with the three main contenders
for Owen's job questioning the sincerity of each other's promises to clean
up the problem.