Supervised injection site Philip Walter Owen was a Canadian politician and drug reform advocate who served as the 36th mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia from 1993 to 2002.

Owen oversaw Vancouver's bid for the 2010 Olympic winter games, which it won in 2003, the Woodwards redevelopment, the public dispute over "harm reduction", the downtown residential population doubling from 40,000 to 80,000, and numerous changes to housing policy.

Years later, Philip also spoke about how close and long-time friends stopped associating with him as well as his wife, Brita, following his public advocacy for harm reduction programs.

[2] Mike Harcourt originally a municipal political opponent of Owen's who went on to be 30th Premier of British Columbia once said of Owen's political fortunes: “He grew dramatically, I think, particularly around the issue of addiction and poverty in the Downtown Eastside, He became a crusader, a very courageous crusader, and it (eventually) cost him getting the nomination for his own party, when he took up the Four Pillars approach on drug addiction.

According to Insite co-founder Liz Evans, “He started to watch people dying like flies from heroin overdoses, and at the time no-one was interested in having that conversation (about safely injecting drugs)."

[5] After four years of research, Owen led a local and national debate to fight drug addiction problems in Canadian cities.

Owen used his position in the media to attempt to change the narrative on drug addiction away from crime and towards health policy, however, public opposition to Insite's opening was immediate and loud.

Upon opening, it drew criticism from the Bush administration with John Walters, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, calling it "state-sponsored suicide.

This division of powers, and the conflicting definitions launched Canada (Attorney General) v PHS Community Services Society a Canadian Supreme court case that began in 2011, seeing Insite defend it's right to existence in court against the powers of the Federal government intent on closing and barring further safe consumption sites from opening in Canada.

During much of the Pickton investigation, after some 20 sex workers went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Owen was criticized for commenting, that there was "no evidence that a serial killer is at work.

On February 15, 2011, Owen published letters in several major Canadian newspapers apologizing for comments that he made blaming former Vancouver Police Department Inspector Kim Rossmo for delays in the investigation of serial killer Robert Pickton, following a defamation case that was settled out of court.

Owen managed the Eaton’s store at Park Royal in the early 1960s, eventually resigning his position after refusing to fire an older employee for fear they would not receive their pension.

In later years, he and his wife Brita travelled to drug policy reform conferences in Canada, Europe, the United States and Afghanistan.