(And yes, some of it I copied from my SPUD letter. Is that a crime?)

Dear Honorable Members of the Legislative Assembly,

In the wake of last week's tragic bus crash in Abbotsford, I am writing to encourage you to help ensure the safety and fair treatment of those who work on BC farms. For me, the crash highlighted the unfair working conditions for these British Columbians, and the need for more direct oversight of the agriculture industry. I urge you to protect these vulnerable workers by providing such oversight.

I was pleased to see the government announce spot checks for vehicles transporting farm workers. Now, I would like to see this government go farther, by re-instating the inter-agency teams that ensure regulations are followed on the job as well as on the road. I would also welcome changes to the Employment Standards Act to grant agricultural workers the same rights as other British Columbians, including an hourly minimum wage.

I recognize that agriculture is a very competitive industry and that some BC farms are struggling to survive. However, survival should not come at the expense of worker rights or safety. As a consumer of BC produce, I would be willing to pay a premium for the assurance that food was harvested fairly, much like many consumers who pay more for "Fair Trade' or "organic" products. I would like to see BC's agriculture industry become a leader in ethical business practices.

Thank you for your attention to this. I am confident that you share my concerns for British Columbians health and safety and I look forward to your response.

Well, I heard back from a nice man named Paul at SPUD. He (like me) is not sure where to start in a quest to ensure SPUD's supplliers are good employers. He said his manager was looking into it.

In the meantime, I did a bit of digging on the internet and found that the BC Federation of Labour has been doing some work on this issue. They have just sent sent some very comprehensive recommendations on this to BC Labour MInister Olga Ilich.

Like most people in Vancouver, I was shocked and saddenned by the fatal bus crash that killed 3 farm workers last week. For many, the crash highlighted the unsafe and exploitative conditions for farm workers in BC. This week, the government re-instated spot checks for vans transporting farm workers, which is a step (back!) in the right direction. I was wondering if as a consumer of local produce, I could do anything further.

On Friday, the Federal Government issued a press release saying that Insite will remain open until December 2007. I'm relieved. 18 more months of operation is a victory. You can read the press release here:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/2006/2006_85_e.html

The tone of the release is a little bit negative, though. I guess I shouldn't expect the Conservatives to get wholeheartedly behind something like this, but I am disappointed that they feel they need to do further "research". Research should continue, yes, but I think the papers that have come out already give us enough information to know the site is not encouraging drug use, and is in fact helping. And the Ministry of Health seems to have missed the point of harm reduction altogether. They say they need more proof that the SIS is helping people get off drugs. While this would be a nice outcome, it was never the main objective of the SIS to get people off drugs. (Never mind that a study has shown that regular Insite participants are twice as likely to enter detox than non-insite users.) As I see it, the main objectives of the site are to save lives and reduce the spread of infections like HIV and Hepatits C. The Minister didn't even mention the progress that has been made on these goals.

In the spirit of letting people know how I'm doing on my change, I thought I'd report that I finished and sent off my letter to the PM. You can send a form letter or your own letter at www.communityinsite.ca if you want to help. Here's mine:

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to urge you to keep Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site open. By now, I am sure you have received many letters from people in the community who support the site. I know you have seen the scientific research showing that Insite saves lives, reduces infections, and helps addicts to access detox and treatment.

 The federal legal exemption that allows the Supervised Injection Site to stay open expires on Sept 12th. That means that if the exemption is not extended, the doors will close on that day next month. If you folks are interested in letting Prime Minister Harper know how you feel about this issue, please write to him.

You can do this automatically through www.communityinsite.ca if you don't have time to write a personal letter.

I just wanted to say that I happened to be spaced out and trolling around my local office supply store (don't ask - just never try making labels at midnight for anyone, no matter how much you love them) and bought 4 CFL's for our home. Let the change begin!

I would like to be transparent about my own biases toward Insite. I am a community health nurse who has worked in the downtown east side for many years, including two years which I spent working at the Supervised Injection Site. I'm still a casual employee there and pick up shifts once in a while. So it's not like I'm a completely disinterested party.

However, my concern is not about keeeping a job. What I'm most worried about is seeing such a terrific, innovative, successful service bite the dust. From my (quite personal) perspective, here are the top 3 reasons to keep Insite open: