Pubdate: Thu, 07 Nov 2002 Source: Province, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2002 The Province Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476 Author: Ian Austin, The Province COUNCILLOR: '1,200 DEAD JUNKIES ON MY WATCH' A Vancouver city councillor yesterday issued a startling apology for the many deaths in the drug-riddled Downtown Eastside. "If there's a good reason not to vote for me, that's it," said Sam Sullivan, a Non-Partisan Association councillor for the past nine years. "I am appalled with myself. "There are 1,200 dead junkies on my watch. I'm very ashamed." Sullivan later tried to soften his harsh judgment of his council performance by saying the NPA is now trying to tackle the drug problem. Mayor Philip Owen spearheaded the four-pillars strategy to address the problem, but the NPA dumped the three-term mayor as its candidate. Many in the community say Owen's liberal drug strategy led to his undoing. "You hear that the NPA is against the four pillars," said Sullivan, who was taking part in a forum at Langara College in place of NPA mayoral candidate Jennifer Clarke. "We wrote the damned thing." Valerie MacLean, the only mayoral candidate at the forum, saluted Sullivan's honesty. "I think he's courageous -- I have to give him credit for saying that," said MacLean, who's running for vcaTeam. "What an amazing thing for him to say -- pretty classy. COPE council candidate Tim Stevenson, who was also at the forum, said he was "surprised that he [Sullivan] would actually say that publicly. We all know that's what's been going on. "After five years of trying to change that, Mayor Owen was kicked out of the party. That's why [COPE mayoral candidate] Larry Campbell is saying that we will put an end to that immediately." Campbell and Clarke were not available for comment last night. n Clarke yesterday unveiled her 10-point plan to build Vancouver's economy. Called "Foundations for Prosperity," Clarke promised to cut red tape and impediments to business, attract new high-tech businesses and growth industries, implement better transportation and hold a quarterly roundtable with CEOs and small business owners. "There's no question we have all the right ingredients, including being ranked in the top three of the world's most livable cities," said Clarke. "Over the next 10 years, we want to make sure we're doing everything possible to build a powerhouse economy that provides even greater opportunities for Vancouverites and their children." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom