Canada’s Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq wants local communities to have more of a say in whether a safe injection site can be set up in their community. On Thursday (June 6) she introduced the Respect for Communities Act which will toughen criteria for supervised drug consumption sites for drug addicts in Canada.
In a press conference announcing the new act, Minister Aglukkaq emphasized that the new criteria were following up on a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2011.
However critics of the government’s new legislation feel it’s actually “flouting” the court.
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network pointed out the court ruled against a federal government decision to stop exemptions allowing the Vancouver self injection site Insite to continue providing a safe location for drug addicts to inject drugs.
The Supreme Court ruled that “Insite saves lives. Its benefits have been proven. There has been no discernable negative impact on the public safety and health objectives of Canada during its eight years of operation. The effect of denying the services of Insite to the population it serves is grossly disproportionate to any benefit that Canada might derive from presenting a uniform stance on the possession of narcotics.”
The day after the Minister’s press conference the Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson commented in a press release: Insite is “a crucial component of our work to tackle addiction with prevention, treatment, and referrals to additional social and health services.” He added: “I am strongly opposed to any legislative or regulatory changes which would impede Insite’s successful operations.”
RCI’s Wojtek Gwiazda has a report:
More information:
Speech of Minister Leona Aglukkaq – here
Health Ministry press release -“Harper Government respects community concerns with new legislation for Supervised Drug Consumption Sites” – here
Bill C-65 – An Act to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act [Short Title: Respect for communities Act] – here
Conservative Party website petition re supervised consumption sites – here
Supreme Court of Canada 2011 ruling – here
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network press release backgrounder – Government Bill Will Impede Life-Saving Health Services, Cause More Death and Disease (pdf) – here
Insite website – www.communityinsite.ca
Mayor of Vancouver statement – Mayor’s statement on new federal legislation regarding supervised injection sites – here
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