On the move!
Agh! You’re still here? My new site and weblog, ianking.ca is now up and running; new posts are building up over there, never to be mirrored here. Go! What are you waiting for? All the stuff worth keeping has been migrated over to the new server, and I don’t anticipate making any more posts here.
Bloggers and webmasters: Update your links! Simply replace vancouverscrum.blogspot.com with www.ianking.ca in your blogrolls or bookmarks to point to the new site. Old posts will remain on this server for as long as the people at Blogger/Google allow them to remain; unfortunately, I’m not going to bother to come up with any way of converting permalinks on this blog to their corresponding posts on the new site. Yes, I plead laziness. I also realize the irony of switching away from Blogger just it starts to add features that the demanding blog nerds insist upon.
Thanks for reading and linking, and see you over at ianking.ca!
—Ian King, December 13, 2004
Monday, November 04, 2002
... Vern Campbell, that is. The former Vancouver police officer, now running for city council on the conservative NPA slate, has been double-dealing with the English and Chinese-language media in Vancouver with regards to the question of the city's drug policy.
In the English-language press, Vern Campbell, no relation to the B.C.'s premier, one of the mayoral candidates, a former Canadian Prime Minister, or... has been telling reporters and editors that he supports the establishment of safe-injection sites for drug users, part of what's known as the "four-pillar approach to drugs.
This assertion by Vern Campbell seems shaky. He's backed by the Chinese business community, known for its opposition to any form of "harm-reduction" schemes for drug addicts. Vern Campbell is also supprted by Al Arsenault (see below) and Toby hinton, two Vancouver police officers who fantasize over a more "right-wing" approach to the problems of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Could either group really be expected to back a candidate who is in favour of safe-fixing facilities or methadone clinics? Or is it possible that Campbell was saying one thing to them, and another to the public?
Well, the answer seems to be the latter.
Vancouver's Chinese community is the foundation of support for a conventional "law 'n order" approach to drugs, and of the opposition to the "four pillar" approach championed by outgoing Mayor Philip Owen.. In meetings with reporters from Chinese-language papers, Vern Campbell said that he was opposed to safe-fixing facilities.
He told the World Journal, a Vancouver Chinese-language daily:
"It is not appropriate to set up safe injection sites and more social housing right next to Chinatown."
And the areas where those facilities are needed the most are...? Right next to Chinatown, that' where.
It's time to hound Vern Campbell on this. He's well-financed, popular in some quarters, has the backing of several business groups, and has a good chance of winning a council seat this November 16th. The voters of Vancouver deserve to know where he really stands.
In the next week, I'll see if I can help clear things up.
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