ROBERTSON AND EX-MAYORS JOIN INSITE FIGHT

With the court battle to determine the fate of the
supervised-injection site Insite slated to start this week, Vancouver
Mayor Gregor Robertson and five former mayors asked the Harper
government on Tuesday to drop its campaign against the facility.

In an open letter to the federal government, the six argued that
Insite had significantly reduced overdose deaths in the Downtown
Eastside since it opened in 2003.

"It has saved lives, reduced transmission of deadly diseases, and
increased the use of detox and addiction treatment," Robertson said.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada will consider whether the
federal government has the authority to shut down the facility. In
January 2010, a B.C. Court of Appeal ruled provinces have jurisdiction
for health care.

The letter was also signed by ex-Vancouver mayors Sam Sullivan, Larry
Campbell, Philip Owen, Mike Harcourt and Art Phillips.

"Drug addiction is a health issue, not a criminal issue," said Owen,
who was mayor from 1993-2002 and whose creation of the Four Pillars
Coalition led to the opening of Insite. Owen added that rampant drug
use, the rapid spread of HIV infections and overdose deaths
skyrocketed in the 1990s.

"To close Insite would put Vancouver at risk of going back to that,"
he said.