OPPONENTS NEEDLE HARPER ABOUT INJECTION SITE

Two Vancouver MPs say Conservative leader Stephen Harper's comments
on drug addiction could mean the city's supervised injection site
would be scrapped under a Conservative government.

Vancouver-South Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, who is also Canada's health
minister, compared Harper's views on crime to those of U.S. President
George Bush.

"Here is a man who essentially looks at crime in the way Texans,
particularly President Bush, would look at crime," Dosanjh told the
Courier Monday. "It's sort of the Texan hang 'em high, Bush-style
attitude to crime."

Harper visited the Lower Mainland on the weekend, where he announced
during a campaign stop in Burnaby the Conservatives' plan to reduce crime.

When asked about his support for Vancouver's supervised injection
site at 139 East Hastings, Harper reportedly said, "We as a
government will not use taxpayers' money to fund drug use."

His comments enraged Dosanjh and Vancouver-East NDP MP Libby Davies,
who sent a letter to Harper expressing her disappointment. Though
Harper didn't clearly say he would scrap the injection site, Dosanjh
and Davies, who are seeking re-election, wasted no time in making it
a campaign issue.

"He actually said that publicly... that's abhorrent, as far as I'm
concerned. That's absolutely unacceptable," Dosanjh said. "We need to
have a comprehensive approach to crime, to the root causes of crime
and then to make sure we do restorative justice, rehabilitate people,
provide treatment to those that are addicted, provide safe injections
sites to those that need them and we actually deal with, in a very
tough fashion, with serious violent offenders."

Added Dosanjh: "That's not how Mr. Harper looks at crime. It's just
one solution fits all, which is jail 'em all."

In her letter, Davies wrote she was shocked to hear of Harper's
"ill-informed position on North America's only safe injection site
which is located in my riding in the Downtown Eastside."

Davies invited Harper to meet with staff at Insite and the facility's
clients when he returns to Vancouver for another campaign stop.
Davies noted the injection site has reduced HIV and Hepatitis C
infections and staff have referred drug users to treatment.

"Community service organizations in [my riding] are national leaders
in drug treatment and outreach programs," Davies wrote. "They
understand what you do not-that poverty, addiction and homelessness
are human problems not criminal problems and won't be solved with
longer prison terms."

News of Harper's comments didn't sit well with Mayor Sam Sullivan,
who was sworn in Monday. Sullivan also automatically becomes the
chair of the Vancouver Police Board.

"I would like to have a long discussion with [Harper] to evaluate
what are the options, how useful [Insite] has been and maybe to move
into other more interesting and innovative things that will help so
that we don't need safe injection sites anymore," he said. "But right
now we do."

The Courier left messages with the Conservatives' communications
staff in Ottawa on Monday and Tuesday to clarify Harper's views on
injection sites. Calls were not returned before yesterday's deadline.

The Conservatives' plan to reduce crime includes mandatory two-year
prison sentences for drug dealers, importers and producers of more
than three kilograms of drugs.

Other measures would see a ban on conditional sentences for serious
drug crimes, scrapping the Liberals' plan to decriminalize marijuana
and a drug prevention strategy for youth.

The election is Jan. 23.