PERCEPTIONS OF INSITE AND ITS INJECTION SITE VARY

Your editorial regarding Insite and the Harper government's desire to
see it dead was a welcome and lucid commentary on the situation.

However, the characterization of Harper's stand as ideological
deflects us from a fundamental point. When voters returned Harper to
Ottawa with a majority in putative pursuit of "stability," they chose
to overlook Harper's most egregious character flaw: An obsession with
power.

I do not recognize any rational political ideology at work in a
government that wilfully ignores evidence of saved money and saved
lives, ignores the pleas and advice of respected proponents of Insite,
ignores the Canadian ethos in respect to how we treat our most
vulnerable citizens. If there is an ideology behind this attitude, it
is borrowed from some other continent, some alien belief system.

There is a lot more at stake here than legal arguments and "ideology."
It is about power.

In the documentary film, Grass, viewers are treated to a clip
featuring the elder Bush responding to a question about ramping up the
"war" on cannabis. Faced with evidence that the plant is in no way
similar to hard drugs and causes little harm, and asked to explain his
government's decision, Bush ultimately came up with: "Because I said
so." Sadly, that is the level to which I see the current prime
minister of Canada aspiring.

George Stepanenko

Sechelt