OTTAWA - The junior health minister says scientific evidence alone will not determine the fate of Vancouver's safe injection site.
Winnipeg MP Steven Fletcher says his Conservative government will make a "rational and thoughtful decision based on science" when it comes to extending or ending a federal exemption for Insite, North America's only such program.
But Fletcher says the science is conflicting, so Health Minister Tony Clement will have to assess what Fletcher calls the "realities of the situation."
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Fletcher says other factors that will influence the government's decision include crime prevention and a United Nations treaty that frowns upon such safe injection sites.
Insite opened in 2003 and allows people to inject illegal drugs, including heroin and cocaine, under the supervision of a nurse.
Numerous scientific studies have indicated it minimizes harm to addicts while reducing health-care and enforcement budgets.
But it needs an exemption from Canada's drug laws to operate and the current federal exemption runs out at the end of June.
