TRAFFIC STOPPED TO PRESSURE TORIES OVER INJECTION SITE

Activists Vent Anger at Government for Not Saying If Vancouver
Project Will Stay Open

TORONTO -- To the sound of angry lunchtime motorists honking their
horns, protesters stopped traffic at one of Canada's busy
intersections Wednesday to protest the Harper government's continuing
refusal to say whether it will allow a safe-injection site in
Vancouver to stay open.

About 500 protesters left in buses from the International AIDS
Conference to briefly block 336 Toronto intersections, but the bulk of
them headed to the corner of a major downtown intersection, Yonge and
Bloor. Organizers were unable to confirm whether the protests had been
successful at all 336 sites -- a number chosen because 336 people who
overdosed at the injection site are still alive.

The injection site's three-year exemption from federal drug laws
expires next month.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already expressed his philosophical
opposition to safe injection sites, but promised earlier this year to
wait for evidence of its effectiveness before making a decision on
whether to prolong its life. The centre, called Insite, released a
study here on Tuesday saying that the evidence is overwhelmingly in
favour of the centre remaining open.

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton also gave the injection site a
boost at his news conference Wednesday, saying the sites are a vital
tool in the fight against AIDS and admitting he was wrong to oppose
them when he was president.

Bloc Quebecois health critic Christiane Gagnon made a surprise
appearance at the rally Wednesday, urging Harper to follow Clinton's
example.

"The Bloc thinks you're right to ask Mr. Harper to change his mind,
like Mr. Clinton changed his mind," she told the crowd. "We will
pressurize Harper when the House of Commons resumes but I hope he
changes his mind before. His head is in the sand."

Federal Health Minister Tony Clement is apparently scheduled to make
an announcement related to AIDS before the conference ends on Friday,
but he has already hastily postponed one news conference without
explanation. His staff refuse to say when the announcement will be
made -- if it all -- or what the subject will be.

Gillian Maxwell, spokeswoman for Insite, said if Canadians want a
meaningful anti-AIDS policy, safe injection sites need to be available
nationwide.

"People who inject need safe health facilities to stop the spread of
HIV," she said. "This isn't just a Vancouver problem, it's a national
problem. If we're going to get on top of HIV in Canada we're going to
have to provide these sites for people."

Rally organizer Christopher Livingstone, from Vancouver, said he is
worried about the injection site's future.

"If the federal government had good news," he said, "they would have
announced it at the AIDS conference, which is the perfect opportunity.
Nineteen thousand injection drug users in Vancouver are still waiting
to find out the fate of this site. If they close down, drug users go
back into the alleys and die."

Livingstone said it makes financial sense to keep the site
open.

"Even from the Conservative viewpoint they would save all kinds of
money," he said. "If you prevent one person from getting HIV you're
saving at least $350,000 a year. So which is the easier solution?"

If the Harper government does close the centre, Maxwell predicts the
protests will grow louder.