SAFE-INJECTION SITE GETS SHOT IN THE ARM

Ex-Vancouver Mayors Want Program to Stay

Three former Vancouver mayors have set aside political differences to
support the Downtown Eastside's safe-injection site, North America's
only such facility.

Mike Harcourt, Philip Owen and Larry Campbell plan to appear at a
news conference Monday to urge the federal Conservative government
not to close the operation.

"We don't agree on all issues. Certainly on this one, we do," said
Campbell, now a Liberal senator. "This is something we want to continue."

Harcourt, who became an NDP premier after his stint as mayor, agreed.

"(Our unity) shows support right across the political spectrum of
people who have dealt with this issue as mayor and chair of the
police board," he said.

The trio, recruited by the Insite for Community Safety coalition that
supports the operation, plans to sign a letter urging Tories to renew
Insite's exemption to the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

A three-year Health Canada exemption for Insite expires Sept. 12, and
there are fears the Tories won't renew it.

That would mean the end of the operation, which allows addicts to
take drugs safely, averting overdoses and the spread of disease.

Owen said the facts support Insite. "Talk to Vancouver Coastal
Health. Talk to the 50 mayors in the world that have these. They all
tell you it works. I can't find one that's closed up because it hasn't worked."

Owen, who described himself as a Liberal inclined to accept good NDP
and Conservative ideas, slammed the Tories for being skittish about
harm reduction. "I hear this old rhetoric of bigoted moral judgment
on others coming out of Ottawa now and it just scares me," Owen said.

The Tories have said a decision is pending, but have been vague about
where they are leaning.