MAYOR SPENDS OFFICE TIME ON PRIVATE DRUG PLAN

According to his calendar, Sullivan met 18 times over five weeks to
discuss CAST

Mayor Sam Sullivan spent more time on his privately based plan to
treat drug addicts with prescription medication than any other city
issue in January and February.

Sullivan met 18 times with doctors, business people and others between
Jan. 12 and Feb. 26 to discuss his Chronic Addiction Substitution
Treatment (CAST) proposal, according to his calendar.

The Courier obtained the mayor's calendar for Jan. 1 to May 6 under
the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

The number of meetings on CAST has opposition city councillors
scratching their heads. Sullivan says the CAST proposal will not go
before council because it doesn't involve city money.

Then why, say COPE Coun. David Cadman and Vision Vancouver Coun.
George Chow, is the mayor using his office to work on a proposal that
the public likely won't see?

"This is the way the man operates," Cadman said. "He operates using
the mayor's office to do business other than city business."

Cadman said the public would be much better served if the mayor
focused on the Four Pillars drug strategy and stopped kowtowing to the
drug policy views of the federal Conservatives.

The mayor's calendar indicates he was involved in two meetings
concerning the drug strategy between Jan. 1 and May 6. The city's
supervised injection site is a component of that strategy.

Sullivan has told the Courier he believes the supervised injection
site on East Hastings is a temporary measure. He said the
Conservatives don't have enthusiasm for adding more sites. Because of
that, the mayor tailored his drug initiative to be acceptable to
Health Canada and the Conservatives.

"I don't think Mayor Sullivan seems to understand what his role is as
mayor of this city in working with this council to move ahead on these
strategies," Cadman said. "He thinks he's better off to move outside
the city and bring in people like John Reynolds, who are influential
in Ottawa to make this [CAST proposal] happen."

Reynolds is a former Conservative MP and co-chair of Inner Change, the
non-profit organization set up by the mayor to champion his drug proposal.

Last month, council voted 9-1 in favour of the "general principles and
objectives" of the CAST proposal. Cadman voted in favour but cautioned
it was not a vote on a detailed proposal.

"There is no proposal," he said.

Chow registered the only dissenting vote, saying he wanted to know
more about the mayor's plan. He fears the mayor will spin the vote
results as evidence the majority of council supports CAST, even though
the vote was not on the proposal.

"Our involvement in this is minimal because it's beyond council, but
it shouldn't be," Chow said. "But that seems to be [the mayor's] style."

Chow was also puzzled about why the city's drug policy coordinator
Donald MacPherson was not involved in any of the mayor's meetings
leading up to the launch of CAST Feb. 26.

MacPherson couldn't be reached before yesterday's deadline.

Sullivan wasn't available Monday or Tuesday for an interview. His
assistant David Hurford said the public shouldn't be surprised at the
number of meetings leading to the launch of the CAST proposal.

"He wouldn't be doing his job if he wasn't," Hurford said. "This guy
works hard. Mayor Sullivan is not the kind of guy who is going to work
nine to five. He is one of the hardest workers I've seen in terms of a
politician."

Sullivan told the Courier last month the CAST proposal won't go before
council. Hurford said Inner Change will be responsible for releasing
the proposal's details.

"My suspicion is they will be very proud of the work that they
complete. They will be very proud of their submission, and my sense is
they'll be very happy to talk about it."

The proposal has yet to be sent to Health Canada for approval. The
mayor's plan aims to have doctors prescribe legal medication to up to
800 drug-addicted criminals in the Downtown Eastside. The type of
drugs, the money required to run the program and the doctors who will
administer the program haven't been announced.

The mayor's calendar wasn't all business. On Jan. 31, from 7:30 p.m.
to 9 p.m., he went to the home of a person named Adri to watch the CBC
television show Little Mosque on the Prairie.

He also got his hair cut at L'Image on Homer Street between 2 p.m. and
2:30 p.m. on Feb. 17. On March 30, between 11:30 a.m. and noon he
talked to a reporter named Mike Howell.