Pubdate: Thu, 27 Apr 2006
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

PM COY ON INJECTION SITE

Mayor Sam Sullivan Meets Harper But Receives No Clear Commitments

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said after a meeting with Prime Minister 
Stephen Harper Wednesday that the Tory leader had given no clear 
indication of the future of Canada's first safe-injection site for 
heroin users in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

"We only spoke for 15 minutes on a variety of topics," Sullivan said 
of his Ottawa meeting with Harper. "He made no commitment one way or another."

The mayor said he got the impression that Harper knows where he 
stands on the issue, "and that he was not interested in getting in the way."

Sullivan added that Harper "seemed to leave the door open for further 
discussions" and invited him to phone him after the budget comes down.

Harper had criticized the Liberal-endorsed pilot project at an early 
campaign event during the 2006 election, but Sullivan said earlier 
this week he received private assurance later in the campaign that 
Harper had no plans to withdraw federal approval of the initiative.

"We discussed his commitment during the campaign - that he did not 
want to facilitate drug use but he was interested in the local 
innovations that come forward, and he's open to them," Sullivan said.

"So I basically feel very comfortable about that position. And also 
he stated that he wasn't interested in trying to get in the way of 
existing innovations."

The pilot project was launched on Sept. 15, 2003 after Health Canada 
accepted the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority's application for an 
exemption under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act.

Health Canada said this week the government will consider extending 
the exemption when it expires later this year after assessing whether 
the program is successful "in reducing risk behaviours like drug 
overdose, needle sharing, public use of drugs and in reducing the 
probability of disease transmission."

Sullivan, who plans to travel to Ottawa regularly to push the city's 
issues to Harper and his ministers, urged the prime minister to hold 
a full cabinet meeting in Vancouver. The mayor said Harper "was very 
intrigued by the invitation."

Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Harper's press secretary, said the prime 
minister wasn't available to comment publicly on the meeting. She did 
confirm that Sullivan, a Conservative party supporter, is the first 
Canadian mayor to have a private meeting with Harper.

Sullivan presented Harper with the Olympic and Paralympic flags given 
to Canada at the recent games in Turin.

Olympic organizers and the B.C. government are pushing the Harper 
government to provide $55 million in next week's budget to cover a cost overrun.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman