Pubdate: Wed, 06 Nov 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Page: A21
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Contact:  Paul Sullivan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

GETTING A BUZZ IN VANCOUVER

Most British Columbians are content to stand back and marvel -- or gape in 
horror -- at local politics. Yet there is no shortage of ready candidates. 
The Nov. 16 Vancouver civic election features 118 people on the ballot for 
various posts; this doesn't include the 20-odd municipalities in the Lower 
Mainland. Add them up, and you have as many people running as you usually 
have voting.

This is the most interesting civic election in years, and not just because 
the last surviving Rhino in captivity -- a goof named Brian Salmi -- is 
running. He's back in town after fleeing the country in 1997 "after the 
cops kicked in the doors of my East Van marijuana mine."

Don't laugh. Drugs are a big factor in this campaign. The leading candidate 
for mayor appears convinced that Vancouver voters want safe injection sites 
for heroin addicts, and they want them now. If elected -- which looks 
likely -- he promises we'll have them by Jan. 1.

Into this bad trip walks city council candidate Peter Ladner, who has his 
own drug flashback: He was fired from The Vancouver Sun in 1969 for 
admitting he knew 20 co-workers who had smoked marijuana. "I never 
exhaled," he says.

In some ways, however, he's the antidote in this drug-induced campaign. As 
the founder of the influential weekly newspaper Business in Vancouver, the 
53-year-old has established a reputation as the sober voice for business. 
His politics are also sober: He's for strong but "sustainable" economic 
development.

And he likes to run. He holds the age record for the Knee Knacker, a 
30-mile ultra-marathon across the North Shore mountains. Last May, he and 
some friends ran across Wales in a day.

Stamina is necessary if you're going to survive in this political climate. 
Mr. Ladner would rather talk about making Vancouver the world's No. 1 green 
city, a showcase for sustainable transport and infrastructure. But he's 
learned he can't control the issues, and safe injection sites have become 
the issue.

Crime is rampant in Vancouver; according to some estimates, we have more 
property crime than any other North American city except Miami. One reason 
is the heavy concentration of drug addicts, who fuel their habits through 
crime. You look for answers, and the safe injection strategy, which aims to 
free the addict from the pusher, may be a start.

At any rate, Mr. Ladner and his Non-Partisan Association colleagues support 
safe injection sites, but the NPA fumbled the issue out of the gate when it 
turned its back on the incumbent mayor, Philip Owen, who courageously 
championed safe injection sites when it wasn't cool.

Now the ruling NPA is in a mortal struggle with the left-leaning Coalition 
of Progressive Electors. Thanks to Larry Campbell, its candidate for mayor, 
COPE owns the high ground on drugs -- he's the model for the crusading 
coroner on Da Vinci's Inquest. The CBC drama just won a Gemini and, by all 
reports, life will imitate art on Nov. 16.

Mr. Ladner, who enjoys crossover support thanks to his general 
sustainability, may be one of the last NPA candidates standing after the 
vote, as anecdotal evidence indicates that voters will make the NPA pay for 
turning its back on Mayor Owen. It looks as though the main beneficiary 
will be Mr. Campbell, who nevertheless may find civic politics tough to 
handle. After all, most of his previous experience is with dead people.

Mr. Ladner, however, has learned to endure pain and keep on running. And 
that could be a handy skill.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager