SAFE INJECTION SITE SAVE

Former Mayor Defends Facility After Harper's Cutting Comments

Former Vancouver mayor and new Senator Larry Campbell spoke out
yesterday in defence of his beloved safe injection site, which he
says is under attack by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

"I had to either go to a dentist or come here and speak so I don't
grind my teeth anymore," said Campbell, who originally convinced the
federal government to support North America's first safe injection site.

The Liberal senator said he phoned his party to offer public support,
because of recent statements and proposals put forward by the Tories
to deal with drugs and crime.

At a campaign stop in Burnaby last month, Harper cast doubt on the
future of the Downtown Eastside facility by telling reporters that a
Conservative government "will not use taxpayers' money to fund drug use."

But Conservative spokesman Colin Metcalf said yesterday that Harper
would not shut the site down.

He said that, while a Conservative government would not put federal
funds into such a project, it would allow provincial or municipal
governments to do so.

Vancouver Centre Tory candidate Tony Fogarassy said it is too early
to tell whether the safe injection site is working, as it is a pilot project.

Campbell maintained there is ample evidence from similar projects in
Europe, as well as the Vancouver facility.

He said there have been 197 overdoses on the site, which could have
turned deadly if emergency treatment was not available.

Fogarassy stopped short of saying he would defend the safe injection
site if elected, insisting that more research was needed. But he did
say, "One life saved is absolutely a success."

Both Fogarassy and Metcalf said the Conservatives would impose
stiffer penalties for dealers, while funding more treatment centres
for people trying to quit drugs.

"The idea is not to criminalize addicts, but to help them," said Fogarassy.

But Campbell was skeptical of what he termed "compassionate conservatism."

Echoing the new Liberal advertising campaign, he accused Harper and
other Tories of downplaying extreme right wing views in order to get elected.

Simon Fraser University political science professor David Laycock
agreed, saying the Conservatives have deliberately muzzled candidates
with far right views on issues like abortion, gay marriage and
aboriginal rights.

"The conservative party understands that combination of views and
candidates do not present a winning image to voters," said Laycock,
author of The New Right And Democracy In Canada.