Raw Opium - Insite Celebrates Supreme Court Decision

Insite Celebrates Supreme Court Decision

This post was written by Liane Kotler, producer with TVO's Documentary Unit.

On Friday September 30^th 2011, there was “joyful pandemonium” outside the Insite safe injection facility because of a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada.  Darwin Fisher, the intake manager at Insite, who you meet in the documentary Raw Opium explains: 

“The fact is, we’ve been to court many times,” says Fisher. “The BC Supreme Court ruled in our favour, acknowledging we offer crucial health care for addicts. The Judge’s ruling states that denying access to the site ignores the illness of addiction and violates the user's rights to life, liberty and security of the person, contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The federal Government appealed that decision. In a split 2-1 decision the judges sided with Insite. Basically, the BC Court of Appeals ruled that supervised injection is a health care service, and is thus a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the province." Then the federal government took this case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. The decision took place Friday, September 30^th, as the sun was rising on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside: the court ruled in a unanimous 9-0 decision that Insite can continue to operate (more on Insite’s legal chronology).

“It means we can stay open, it means we can continue to work with compassion, we can continue to do the work the community needs. We are no longer under the threat of closure.  Our legal battles are over for this site,” he says. The Supreme Court of Canada heard the federal government’s appeal in May 2011.  Fisher predicted the Court would not reveal their ruling until the spring 2012.  But when he was notified on Monday the ruling would be handed down on Friday, he got nervous.  “The speed of the decision was unnerving.  I thought they would have to rewrite law, but clearly the judges understood that this is a health care issue.”

When Fisher heard the ruling, it was about 7 am on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.  “There were crowds outside Insite, hundreds of people were outside, news cameras were ready, we had a pancake breakfast for the community, a Gospel Choir, and it was quite amazing. You’d think the Canucks HAD just won the Stanley Cup,” he says. And then, the news: “Everybody jumped in the air. There were tears of joy and hugs all round,” he says containing a giggle.

“I just thought to myself: How can we go back?  How can we go back to the days of people using in back alleys?  We don’t have to go back there. Too many lives have been lost.  The community demanded this site and we will stay open.  What we’re talking about is access to life saving care, access to running water, access to detox in a safe environment. Our legal battles are finally over."