MINISTER LENDS SUPPORT TO CITY'S DRUG SOLUTION

After meeting with Ottawa's mayor and chief of police, MPP Jim Watson
intends to talk to medical officials this week to see how they can
help bring a drug rehabilitation centre to the city.

Watson, who met with Larry O'Brien and Chief Vernon White on Saturday,
said they held a frank discussion on the steps needed to secure
provincial cash to build a treatment centre.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions. What are the province's
different models for treatment centres in past history or for
funding?" asked Watson, health promotion minister and Ottawa
West-Nepean MPP.

"What's certain now is that there's a commitment from both the police
and the mayor who see this as a priority."

The city wants to build an $8-million, 48-bed treatment facility for
youths, but the province would have to pony up the cash.

A report to city council identified Thunder Bay as the closest
residential drug treatment facility for kids. In 2005, 17% of that
facility's admissions were from Ottawa.

'FILL IN BLANKS'

White said while it's not the job of the police to provide treatment,
having a centre would lower criminal activity.

"It's one of the greatest crime prevention tools we can have," he
said.

Watson plans to meet with Dr. Robert Cushman, CEO of the Champlain
Local Health Integration Network, and Dr. David Salisbury, Ottawa's
chief medical officer of health.

"What I am hoping to do by getting these groups together is fill in
some of the blanks of the proposal city council passed. It has to be a
well-researched proposal that I submit to Queen's Park."

Watson cautioned that he can't just pull money out of thin air. He
hopes to submit the proposal in time for budget deliberations this
fall.

The province already gives the city $2.3 million to support 14
treatment programs.

NOT DOWNTOWN

This isn't the first time Ottawa has tried to get a youth treatment
centre. Former mayor Bob Chiarelli said one was needed last year and
wanted to see it built in the Burritt's Rapids area.

A location hasn't been secured for the new proposal, but advocates
believe it should be far away from the downtown core, where drug use
is rampant.

The meetings follow a city council decision last week to scrap its
crack pipe program after public outcry. Many believed the program was
just helping addicts smoke up.

Medical officials argued the program was helping slow the spread of
diseases.