Pubdate: Fri, 11 Nov 2016
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2016 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Andrea Woo
Page: A 12

OTTAWA TO EASE INJECTION-SITE LAW

Respect for Communities Act currently puts requirements on prospective
operators that critics say are an effort to curb the facilities

The federal government will change a contentious piece of Harper-era
legislation that critics say imposes undue barriers to opening new
supervised injection sites.

Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott discussed the need for
legislative changes to the Respect for Communities Act for the first
time on Thursday during a visit to a fire hall in Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside. First responders, particularly in the East Vancouver
neighbourhood, have seen call rates surge in recent years, due largely
to a fentanyl-driven overdose crisis.

"I am working with my officials to make sure that we continue to make
these sites available where necessary," Dr. Philpott said. "It
increasingly looks like that will require legislative changes and we
are actively working on a plan for the appropriate changes to be made."

There is no set time frame for the amendments, but the Health Minister
said they would come as soon as possible.

"Any piece of legislation has to go through a certain number of steps
before it's formalized, but I recognize that people are dying every
day," she said. "We are committed to making sure we make these
services available."

The Globe and Mail has reported on the act extensively. The previous
Conservative government introduced it last year after fighting Insite,
Vancouver's public, supervised injection site, all the way to the
Supreme Court of Canada, which sided with the Downtown Eastside facility.

The legislation includes more than two dozen requirements that
prospective operators must meet, including holding extensive community
consultations; collecting data and other information on crime, public
nuisance and inappropriately discarded drug paraphernalia in the
vicinity of the site; and conducting criminal-record checks for every
staff member going back 10 years, which can prevent recovered addicts
from being peer-support workers. Critics say it is a deliberate effort
to curb all supervised injection sites.

The Liberal Health Minister, a physician, is a strong advocate of
evidence-based treatment such as supervised injection sites, which
curb the transmission of blood-borne illnesses by providing sterile
injecting equipment and have nurses on hand to intervene should
someone overdose.

However, Dr. Philpott had not signified any plans to amend or repeal
the legislation until Thursday, saying only that her office was
working with prospective site operators and that there should be no
undue barriers. She acknowledged Thursday that the sheer volume of
paperwork that must be submitted, and the fact that incomplete
applications could not be considered, constituted some of those undue
barriers.

Numerous health officials and politicians, including B.C.'s provincial
health officer Perry Kendall, Health Minister Terry Lake and Vancouver
Mayor Gregor Robertson, have called on Dr. Philpott to repeal the act.
More than a handful of them, including Dr. Kendall and Mr. Lake, were
at Thursday's event at the Downtown Eastside fire hall.

Fire Chief John McKearney, also present, said it only takes one stroll
through the neighbourhood to see why supervised injection sites are
needed. He was pleased to hear Dr. Philpott's comments about
legislative changes.

"I think the Liberal government seems to be progressive thinking in
this regard," he said. "The city's been after this for a long time."

Others expressed frustration that it has taken this
long.

Libby Davies, who served as NDP MP for Vancouver East from 1997 to
2015 and continues to be a loud advocate for the Downtown Eastside,
said it is "perplexing" that the matter is taking so long when it's
been clear the act has served as an obstacle.

She noted it will still take time for changes to navigate their way
through Parliament.

"[Dr. Philpott] won't get the support of the Conservatives - they'll
fight it," Ms. Davies said. "So how long is that going to take? I do
wonder what kind of ministerial discretion she could use in the
meantime, because it is a health emergency."

More than 555 people have died of illicit drug overdoses in B.C. so
far this year - the highest annual death toll in 30 years of record
keeping. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid being cut into a
growing percentage of street drugs, was detected in about 60 per cent
of those deaths. At the fire hall in the Downtown Eastside, call
volumes have doubled since illicit fentanyl entered the picture
several years ago.

Vancouver currently has the only two supervised injection sites in
North America. VCH submitted applications for two more last month and
has plans to apply for another three.
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MAP posted-by: Matt