SAFE INJECTION SITE GETS REPRIEVE

But Timing of Decision Raises Questions

VANCOUVER - Some experts are saying the decision to keep a safe
heroin-injection site open until Dec. 31, 2007, while more research is
conducted, was a strategic move on the part of the federal government.

The announcement was made late in the day Friday, preceding the last
long weekend of the summer. In the release, Health Minister Tony
Clement said: "Given the need for more facts, I am unable to approve
the current request to extend the Vancouver site for another three and
a-half years."

Releasing controversial news late in the week is a common political
and corporate strategy used to deflect attention from hot-button issues.

Erik Waddell, a spokesman in the minister's office, said Clement had
no plans to make himself available to explain the decision.

The pilot project, called Insite, allows addicts to shoot up their own
heroin or cocaine in the presence of a nurse to prevent overdoses. It
would have closed Sept. 12 had the Harper government decided not to
renew a three-year exemption under Canada's drug laws. The site is
funded by the provincial government, although Ottawa has provided
research funding.

The fact that the Conservative government neither closed nor renewed
the site raised questions from several experts.

Simon Fraser University political science professor Patrick Smith said
it appeared that the minority Conservatives are trying to distance
themselves from the safe injection site over a timeframe that many
predict will see another federal election.

Liberal MP and former health minister Ujjal Dosanjh called the
project's extension "cynical."

"This is all about politics," he said Saturday. "This announcement is
not about health for them ... which is a shame. This issue is not a
partisan issue."

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan have
rallied for Insite.