OTTAWA — Health Minister Tony Clement insists his government is “open-minded” on the issue of Vancouver's safe injection site as its supporters urge him to put ideology aside and not shut the door on the city's drug addicts.
The facility, known as Insite, is currently exempt from applicable drug laws as part of a five-year-old experiment to offer addicts in the Downtown Eastside a safe place to shoot up. The facility is attached to a detox centre for those willing to get off drugs.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative colleagues have never been big fans, and Insite's exemption from applicable laws will expire on June 30 unless Ottawa extends it.
“The extension ends on June 30 and the government will make a decision before that time,” Mr. Clement told the Commons Monday. “We want to make sure this decision is the right decision for Canada, for addicts and for the community in Vancouver. … That is because we are open-minded and we want to make the best decision for Canada and Canadians.”
Bethany Jeal is a nurse with the Downtown East Side Clinical Housing Team, who also works at Insite is seen here in October 2007. She holds a typical tray with an injection kit that will be handed out to drug users at Insite. (John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail)
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While supporters of Insite wait for Ottawa's decision, Mr. Clement made a $111-million drug announcement last week that did not touch on safe-injection issues. Instead, the money will fund provincial drug treatment programs. Ottawa is also launching a national TV ad warning families about the dangers of drugs.
The facility was the first of its kind in North America when it began in 2003 with the support of Ottawa, the province and Vancouver. As a result, it has been the subject of more than 20 peer-reviewed papers.
Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University who researched the most recent federally commissioned report, said his data clearly show the program is a positive one for drug addicts and the community at large.
His work contributed to an advisory committee report that found support for the program among business operators, area residents and those who provide the service. The evidence also shows it creates significant savings for taxpayers, he said.
“The whole point of it is to help these people,” he said. “I would hope that the government would say, ‘We're going to make decisions based on science. We're not going to make decisions based on our ideological leanings.' ”
Prof. Boyd urged Mr. Clement to extend the program for another 10 years and said the Conservative government is offside with the broader political consensus in British Columbia.
“In British Columbia, we've got the Premier and the cabinet. We've got the mayor. We've got pretty much most of our federal MPs onside with Insite. The community supports Insite,” he said. “So what the federal government is really doing is saying: ‘No, we don't like a public health approach to this program. We want a criminal justice approach.' And I think that's bullying the province in a way that doesn't pay them any dividends.”
Liberal and New Democratic Party MPs from the Vancouver area support Insite and accuse the Conservatives of trying to confuse the public on the evidence in support of the program.
“If Insite is not there, people will die of drug overdoses,” said NDP MP Libby Davies, whose riding includes the Downtown Eastside. “And people will react to it that way. They will see it as a political decision that was made, disregarding the lives that will be at risk.”
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