THRONE SPEECH TO TACKLE DRUGS, HOMELESSNESS

Transportation Projects like Light Rapid Transit Will Also Get a Boost

OTTAWA -- A "new urban strategy" in today's federal throne speech will help
major cities like Vancouver deal with growing pressures created by
homelessness, traffic gridlock, pollution, drug abuse, and immigration.

Both Vancouver and Toronto have seen major protests and conflict over the
problem of homelessness in recent weeks.

Several dozen people occupied the Woodward's building last week on the edge
of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and had to be removed by police.
Protesters in Toronto had pitched a tent city on the parking lot of a Home
Depot store and were finally evicted last Wednesday.

One of the highlights of the package is a 10-year urban infrastructure
program that will help cities fund major infrastructure projects.

Special attention will go to municipalities interested in major
transportation projects such as light rapid transit, since those
initiatives will help Canada meet its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions under the Kyoto Accord.

The government won't spell out its financial commitment to the urban
infrastructure program until the next federal budget is presented early
next year.

Ottawa will also unveil a national drug strategy aimed specifically at
finding solutions to problems created by drug addictions that have plagued
inner urban areas, the most dramatic example being Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside.

The Throne Speech will also dedicate the government to doing more to help
new immigrants adapt to Canadian life with special attention to language
training.

The government will also announce an extension of the Support Communities
Partnership Initiatives, a national $305-million program that was to
conclude next year. The SCPI helps communities fund projects to house the
homeless.

But Vancouver city council candidate Ellen Woodsworth, a longtime advocate
for housing in the Downtown Eastside and women's issues, said SCPI is a
mere Band-Aid on the over-all problems of homelessness, drugs and poverty.

"We have to look at the whole situation, not just the symptoms," she said.
"The symptoms are the people on the street. The symptoms are kids using
drugs." But she said government needs to get at the root causes, such as
young people's inability to find jobs, receive welfare, or afford a place
to live.

"If people don't have income, you're going to see what we have in Vancouver
today which is directly related to the provincial cuts to welfare and to
training programs and to small businesses: You have young people who don't
see a future, can't get a job, can't afford to pay rent," she said.

"If you don't have a drug strategy that's tied to a substantial influx of
funds for affordable housing and, if you don't have money for economic
development, the whole thing isn't going to work."

Prime Minister Jean Chretien, anxious to cement his legacy during his final
17 months in power, will spell out his plan in greater detail in a speech
to the House of Commons Tuesday.

The Throne Speech is being billed as a move by Chretien toward "traditional
Liberal values," though critics contend he is simply trying to one-up
former finance minister Paul Martin.

Martin, the overwhelming favourite to replace Chretien next year, has
promised a "new deal" for Canadian cities that would give municipal
governments greater taxing authority.