Pubdate: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Allen Garr Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) SULLIVAN RUNS OWN DRUG SHOW How many federal Tories does it take to convince Stephen Harper to do something? You may want to ask Mayor Sam Sullivan. He just added former Tory MP John Reynolds to the board of the Inner Change Society. That's the non-profit organization Sullivan is creating to sell Ottawa on a stimulant substitution program to treat drug addicts. The idea is to "change the drug culture" by substituting illegal street drugs addicts are now shooting into their veins with prescription pharmaceutical drugs they can swallow. Reynolds, who chaired the Tories' 2006 federal election campaign and will help run the next one, is arguably the most influential unelected Conservative in the country. Last week Sullivan announced the appointment of another long-time Tory, Lois Johnson. She co-chaired the leadership bid by federal Minister of Health Tony Clement. Now she'll run this society. Although it hasn't been incorporated and she has yet to be paid, she hopes to have the project up and running by the fall. The plan has never come before council but Sullivan has lobbied Tories in Ottawa on the issue several times in the past year. Indeed, he says Clement wants the substitution proposal given to him directly. Conservatives like the plan for a couple of reasons. Unlike the supervised injection site it doesn't involve illegal drugs or drug dealers, and unlike the NAOMI heroin maintenance project it doesn't involve needles. But most important, it's not something left over by the Liberals. What we are seeing being rolled out now has been months in the planning. Typical of Sullivan's style of operating, much of it has been done beyond the scrutiny of either city staff or city council. It is as if public policy is being framed and promoted by a private charity. The scheme is being financed by private funds, like Sullivan's campaign slush fund, which is outside the control of the NPA. That means there is no transparency or accountability. The spin on all of this is being managed by Sullivan's pal Wayne Hartrick and his Reputations PR organization. Hartrick was involved in organizing last November's poll funded by that campaign slush fund. (The same fund was used to hire another Tory organizer, George Higgins, to do political work for Sam.) The poll results showing public support for stimulant substitution were made public Feb. 9, along with an announcement that Sullivan was organizing a "group" that was seeking an exemption from Health Canada to allow doctors to prescribe stimulant substitutes to addicts. Later that same day Sullivan kicked off a series of three meetings with members of the Four Pillars Coalition, a group of bureaucrats and community activists involved with the city's drug policy. That's where Sullivan rolled out his grand plan and introduced the crowd to Jackson and Reynolds. On Feb. 15, the next news release produced a story about Jackson's appointment. That appeared in the press on the final day of the meetings along with news that Dr. David Marsh, the head of addiction services with Vancouver Coastal Health, the Vancouver Coastal Health's medical health officer, Dr. John Blatherwick, and the province's medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, had all accepted Sullivan's invitation to sit on the society's clinical advisory committee. The mayor is also trying to recruit a "prominent" NDPer to the board to create a less partisan patina. There is some consensus that this project can play a small part in dealing with the city's drug problem. But folks within the NPA, particularly the Liberals, see Sullivan's continued actions of private fundraising and embracing Tory operatives in a different light. They believe he will either take over the NPA all together or, failing that, turn his back on it and run his own show. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom