Internal documents show U.S. involvement in Canada's national drug strategy
OTTAWA - Conservative ministers and their aides are consulting with ''keen'' U.S. government officials on a new national drug strategy, according to internal documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun.
''There have been various senior-level meetings between U.S. officials and ministers/minister's offices,'' states a summary of a June 16, 2006, meeting on the Tory drug initiative involving top federal bureaucrats at nine federal departments and agencies.
''U.S. officials have been keen to discuss drug issues with the current government.''
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2006 election platform promised a new drug strategy that would include a national youth awareness strategy. Harper also called for mandatory minimum sentences and large fines for serious drug offenders, including marijuana grow operators and ''producers and dealers of crystal meth and crack.''
The Tory government has since then come under criticism for taking a tough U.S.-style approach to drug crime while downplaying the so-called ''harm reduction'' approach that led to the 2003 establishment of a supervised injection site for Vancouver's drug addicts.
The five-page summary, obtained through the Access to Information Act, noted U.S. ''drug czar'' John Walters - a frequent critic of Canadian drug policy under the previous Liberal government - was planning to visit Canada this autumn.
''The meeting was postponed for scheduling reasons. It's anticipated the meeting will take place early in the new year,'' said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
The national drug strategy will be launched in the fall or winter, the documents note, after which Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada ''will need to do outreach with the U.S. and our like-minded countries.''
The strategy will focus on ''a few key priority areas that the current government could focus and build on, ''such as ''clandestine labs, marijuana grow operations, (and) synthetic drugs,'' the document states.
''Another key element of the proposed national strategy is the national awareness campaign for youth.''
The document also cites government plans to toughen laws for drug-impaired driving. Justice Minister Vic Toews tabled legislation on that matter last month.
Mike Storeshaw, a spokesman for Toews, said he couldn't speculate on when the strategy will be announced.
Storeshaw said the Canada-U.S. meetings make sense given the concerns shared by both countries about cross-border crime.
''Obviously, ministers interact with their counterparts internationally. Americans are important counterparts especially when it comes to drug crime,''he said.
''Drugs are one of the prime motivators for crime, particularly cross-border crime.''
Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said U.S. interest in Canada's tougher drug plans is no surprise.
''The Harper government favours a U.S.-style approach to drug problems, which is to lock more people up and don't treat it as a health problem, treat it as a criminal law problem of morality,'' Boyd said.
''That's very much at odds with what's going on in Europe and there's really no good evidence to suggest that it's going to be terribly useful.''
New Democratic Party MP Libby Davies, whose Vancouver East riding includes the supervised injection facility, said the Harper government appears to be ''taking orders''from the American drug czar and other top officials of the Bush administration.
''We have made-in-Canada policies that are working,'' she said. ''Why isn't (Harper) looking to Europe and the successes they've had there?''
The Harper government has been openly critical of the injection facility, called Insite, and granted it a permit extension only until December 2007.
The B.C. government, the City of Vancouver, and even Health Canada endorsed a 3 1/2-year extension.
The newlyobtained documents show top bureaucrats are concerned about the future of programs that treat drug abuse as a health or ''harm''matter rather than a crime issue.
Susan Fletcher, assistant deputy minister at Health Canada, suggested at the June meeting that top bureaucrats were trying to quietly push forward a ''national framework''plan launched by the former Liberal government to ''reduce the harms''associated with alcohol and drug abuse.
Fletcher told other top officials that the plan had the support of non-governmental organizations, but ''noted, however, that the policy directions of the current government has implications''for the federal-provincial endorsement process
''Susan explained that rather than maintain the relatively high-level approach of seeking ministerial support, HC (Health Canada) is following a lower-profile path,''states the summary.
''Health Canada will continue moving the framework forward when the timing is right and looking for strategic opportunities to garner support. Justice (the federal department of justice) has taken a similar route.''
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/n...=29f13719-f240-441c-86fa-9cf9109cfb61&k=87193
OTTAWA - Conservative ministers and their aides are consulting with ''keen'' U.S. government officials on a new national drug strategy, according to internal documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun.
''There have been various senior-level meetings between U.S. officials and ministers/minister's offices,'' states a summary of a June 16, 2006, meeting on the Tory drug initiative involving top federal bureaucrats at nine federal departments and agencies.
''U.S. officials have been keen to discuss drug issues with the current government.''
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2006 election platform promised a new drug strategy that would include a national youth awareness strategy. Harper also called for mandatory minimum sentences and large fines for serious drug offenders, including marijuana grow operators and ''producers and dealers of crystal meth and crack.''
The Tory government has since then come under criticism for taking a tough U.S.-style approach to drug crime while downplaying the so-called ''harm reduction'' approach that led to the 2003 establishment of a supervised injection site for Vancouver's drug addicts.
The five-page summary, obtained through the Access to Information Act, noted U.S. ''drug czar'' John Walters - a frequent critic of Canadian drug policy under the previous Liberal government - was planning to visit Canada this autumn.
''The meeting was postponed for scheduling reasons. It's anticipated the meeting will take place early in the new year,'' said Rodney Moore, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.
The national drug strategy will be launched in the fall or winter, the documents note, after which Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada ''will need to do outreach with the U.S. and our like-minded countries.''
The strategy will focus on ''a few key priority areas that the current government could focus and build on, ''such as ''clandestine labs, marijuana grow operations, (and) synthetic drugs,'' the document states.
''Another key element of the proposed national strategy is the national awareness campaign for youth.''
The document also cites government plans to toughen laws for drug-impaired driving. Justice Minister Vic Toews tabled legislation on that matter last month.
Mike Storeshaw, a spokesman for Toews, said he couldn't speculate on when the strategy will be announced.
Storeshaw said the Canada-U.S. meetings make sense given the concerns shared by both countries about cross-border crime.
''Obviously, ministers interact with their counterparts internationally. Americans are important counterparts especially when it comes to drug crime,''he said.
''Drugs are one of the prime motivators for crime, particularly cross-border crime.''
Neil Boyd, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, said U.S. interest in Canada's tougher drug plans is no surprise.
''The Harper government favours a U.S.-style approach to drug problems, which is to lock more people up and don't treat it as a health problem, treat it as a criminal law problem of morality,'' Boyd said.
''That's very much at odds with what's going on in Europe and there's really no good evidence to suggest that it's going to be terribly useful.''
New Democratic Party MP Libby Davies, whose Vancouver East riding includes the supervised injection facility, said the Harper government appears to be ''taking orders''from the American drug czar and other top officials of the Bush administration.
''We have made-in-Canada policies that are working,'' she said. ''Why isn't (Harper) looking to Europe and the successes they've had there?''
The Harper government has been openly critical of the injection facility, called Insite, and granted it a permit extension only until December 2007.
The B.C. government, the City of Vancouver, and even Health Canada endorsed a 3 1/2-year extension.
The newlyobtained documents show top bureaucrats are concerned about the future of programs that treat drug abuse as a health or ''harm''matter rather than a crime issue.
Susan Fletcher, assistant deputy minister at Health Canada, suggested at the June meeting that top bureaucrats were trying to quietly push forward a ''national framework''plan launched by the former Liberal government to ''reduce the harms''associated with alcohol and drug abuse.
Fletcher told other top officials that the plan had the support of non-governmental organizations, but ''noted, however, that the policy directions of the current government has implications''for the federal-provincial endorsement process
''Susan explained that rather than maintain the relatively high-level approach of seeking ministerial support, HC (Health Canada) is following a lower-profile path,''states the summary.
''Health Canada will continue moving the framework forward when the timing is right and looking for strategic opportunities to garner support. Justice (the federal department of justice) has taken a similar route.''
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/n...=29f13719-f240-441c-86fa-9cf9109cfb61&k=87193
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