MACLEAN'S TAKE ON THE DRUG CRISIS

Vancouver Sun Interview With Valerie Maclean. Civic Election 2002

Illegal Drug Use And The Downtown Eastside

We asked her party's policy on illegal drug use and the Downtown Eastside.

MacLean: I think we'll be judged by how we resolve this problem or not
resolve it. What we commit to is implementing Mayor Owen's four-pillar program.

The Sun: But that doesn't distinguish you from anybody.

MacLean: True. We're also for the decentralization of services. Which would
mean supervised injection sites and treatment centres in other communities.
These people who need help within their own community should not have to go
back to the Downtown Eastside to get help. So, we need to have those
services in their own communities.

The Sun: There are two questions here. One, are you talking about other
communities in the sense of other mayors and councils? Or are you talking
about other neighbourhoods in the city of Vancouver? And if you're talking
outside the boundaries of Vancouver, how would you, as mayor of Vancouver,
make someone like Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum do anything to try and keep
his addicts at home?

MacLean: I'm actually talking about other neighbourhoods in Vancouver . . .
. Unless we develop a regional strategy, this is for Vancouver only. The
Vancouver agreement is Vancouver.

But it's not just a Vancouver problem. It's a national problem, it's an
international problem. So [this means] working with other governments to
resolve this issue and bring them on board.

The Lower Mainland Municipal Association has gone a long way towards coming
up with a plan, but of course it has not been implemented yet for lack of
mo ney, lack of funds.

We all need to think about what is going to benefit us all. It has to be a
regional strategy and bring all the players on board.

The Sun: That's Jennifer Clarke's line. If you can't get agreement at all
levels of government, what will you do?

MacLean: Bring them to the table, involve everyone, say we have to commit
to this.

Someone may have to make some concessions, but we need to commit to this
program and we need to do it soon.

The Sun: And if that goes on for a number of years?

MacLean: It can't go on. It can't.

The Sun: At some point you have to fish or cut bait. When would you have
safe injection sites for the Downtown Eastside?

MacLean: As soon as possible.

The Sun: Which is when?

MacLean: Whenever we get the approval.

The Sun: Within your first term?

MacLean: Yes. As soon as I can make it happen.

The Sun: And it's dependent upon the approval of the senior levels of
government?

MacLean: It would be dependent upon cooperating with senior levels of
government, as well as the residents and businesses of the Downtown
Eastside. They have to be brought in as well. It's a comprehensive
strategy, that involves a lot of players.

The Sun: Consensus has been the death of action on the Downtown Eastside.
Are you prepared to allow your initiative to falter if you fail to achieve
consensus?

MacLean: No, I'm not prepared to let it falter.

The Sun: What would you do unilaterally?

MacLean: Take a leadership role.

The Sun: On that point, do you see any role for Mayor Owen on this issue in
the future?

MacLean: Yes.

The Sun: You would appoint him as . . . ?

MacLean: Whatever role he'd like to play, I think he should be allowed to
play. It would be his decision.

The Sun: We asked Jennifer Clarke, let me ask you: Are people dying in the
Downtown Eastside while a consensus is being sought?

MacLean: Yes, they are. That's why we need to make this happen.

The Sun: How long can that continue before you do something -- not talk,
not provide leadership, but actually do something, whether or not other
people are your partners?

How long will you wait, while people are dying, before you actually do
something?

MacLean: I will not wait. I will do it as soon as I possibly can. With or
without consensus.

The Sun: Would you give us a date, an "I will act by" date?

MacLean: I would want to act within weeks of becoming mayor. Weeks.

The Sun: Thank you. And you would place these safe injection sites around
the city?

MacLean: Yes.

The Sun: Can you name another neighbourhood that would willingly accept a
safe injection site?

MacLean: It has to be something that all neighbourhoods commit to. They must.

The Sun: And how do you establish commitment?

MacLean: You say that this has to happen. We have to work together to
resolve this issue. This must be something available . . . .

Ultimately it may come down to: This will have to happen. We're sorry that
you don't want this, but this will have to happen. Because people need to
get treatment in their own communities. Whether it was an unpopular
decision or not, it still needs to happen.

The Sun: Is this primarily a crime issue, or primarily a health issue?

MacLean: It's a health issue. Except trafficking -- high-level traffickers,
I'm not talking about the addict, that's selling drugs to support his
habit. The high-level trafficker would be a criminal issue. As far as the
users go, it's a health issue.

The Sun: What is your policy on policing of drugs in this city?

Do you perpetuate the war on drugs in terms of people who sell it? Would
you keep that war going? Or do you increase that war; do you use your
expert police officers for a tougher war on drugs? What policy do you want
the police force to establish while policing drugs?

MacLean: I want them to go out to the high-level traffickers. The people
that are profiting on the misery and on the backs of other people.