Off to Court Again

Boy, you have to give those Harper Conservatives credit for one thing. When they don't like something, they are like a dog on a bone. There is no distracting them.

These guys don't like safe injection sites.

Set up in Vancouver when Larry Campbell was mayor, Insite in East Vancouver was approved by the former Liberal government as a way to help stem the massive health risk addicts face when injecting drugs in back alleys and in sharing needles. Study after study has shown that these safe sites save lives.

It ain't pretty but it works.

The Conservative's (remember when they were the Progressive Conservatives) tough on crime agenda has seen the Federal Government challenging the legality of Insite to operate. They have gone so far as to bully staff, threatening them with prosecution if they continue to operate the site. They continue to lose their ever shifting specious arguments in court at every step yet, they press on..

British Columbia Court of Appeal stood up to the Federal Government in early January saying that it went too far in holding the threat of criminal prosecution over those who work at or use Insite, the clinic in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Don't forget this was originally set up with the blessing of the Federal Government.

This Tory so called war on drugs may fly in the Conservative heartland but it is going nowhere in B.C. Insite is supported by the Mayor of Vancouver, the Vancouver Police, B.C.'s Medical Health Officer, the B.C. Attorney General and Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

So, in the face of medical evidence which says that Insite is saving lives and united opposition to their mission, the tunnel visioned crusaders are going to press on to the Supreme Court of Canada.

What about spend a bit of money on a harm reduction program? This so-called drug war, is being waged on the backs of the most addicted population in Canada. In doing so, it puts their lives at risk.

It makes no sense.