A TRIUMPH OF REASON OVER DOGMA

The Supreme Court of Canada has granted an exemption from criminal law
to Insite, Vancouver's safe-injection site.

The decision is a victory for health care in Canada.

But it represents a stern rebuke to Tony Clement, who was once the
federal health minister and the fellow who decided to recriminalize
the injection site.

After reviewing the circumstances of the case, the court ruled firmly
against Clement and the Harper government's tough-on-crime approach to
the injection site.

"The effect of that decision, but for the trial judge's interim order,
would have been to prevent injection drug users from accessing the
health services offered by Insite, threatening the health and indeed
the lives of the potential clients," wrote Chief Justice Beverly
McLachlin in her decision, which was supported by all other eight judges.

Clement's decision violated a citizen's right to life, liberty and the
security of person, she added.

The decision was arbitrary and not in accordance with the principles
of fundamental justice.

It also undermined the purpose of the Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act, which include public health and safety.

And the decision was disproportionate - the denial of health services
and the increased risk of death and disease to the users outweighs any
benefit that might come from the absolute prohibition on possession of
illegal drugs.

After this colossal bungle, the Supreme Court could have tossed the
matter of an exemption back to the government for consideration.

"This remedy would be inadequate," wrote McLachlin. "These claimants
would be cast back into the application process they have tried and
failed at, and made to await the minister's decision based on a
reconsideration of the same facts. Litigation might break out anew."

So the court simply ordered an exemption under the Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act.

It was, after a thorough review of facts that weighed the health
benefits and potential danger Insite posed the public, a rational decision.

And that's something McLachlin and the other judges realized would not
come from the current federal government itself.