Conservative Party Lacks Insight

"We'll let the project finish and then we'll make a decision," Conservative MP Steven Fletcher, who is parliamentary secretary to Health Minister Tony Clement, told Metro Vancouver Wednesday. - Metro

I don't tend to read the Metro, but every so often they strike a nerve. Apparently, The Insite safe injection site will be allowed to close before Health Canada makes the decision on the application to renew the exemption for the injection site. This means that workers will be forced to find other jobs, volunteers will move elsewhere, and worst of all, people will start dying; one ever

According to Vancouver Coastal Health stats, there were 453 overdoses that resulted in no fatalities between April 2004 and March 2006. That's over 4 people every week who would otherwise have died in alleys, in bathroom stalls, and in hotel rooms. I live in the East Side, and the last thing the neighbourhood needs is more corpses.

Allowing the site to close without a decision is the same as denying the application for the exemption. Granting the exemption again is not likely to happen without government studies and inquiries and other wastes of time; people will die, and the government uses weasel tactics to avoid making a decision.

"Trust us," they say, with their best used-car-selling smile...

I'm in the process of trying to scare up some official responses to Steven Fletcher's statement; more later.

Update: (09:15 July 21) Erik Waddell from Health Canada has returned my call, and stated that Mr. Fletcher was not speaking on the government's behalf nor the Health Minister's behalf. Mr. Waddell assures me that the Insite application is not stalled until the site closes, and that it is currently being investigated.

Minister of Health Tony Clement, and the man quoted regarding allowing the site to close; Conservative MP Steven Fletcher.

Phone numbers:
613-957-0200 Health Canada PR Erik Waddell
613-944-7740 Conservative Health Minister Tony Clement's Hill Office phone number and email
613-995-5609 Conservative MP Steven Fletcher's Hill Office phone number and email
613-995-4843 Liberal Health Critic MP Ruby Dhalla's phone number and email
613-992-6030 Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies phone number and email