Pubdate: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Author: Lindsay Kines Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) HYDRO ENLISTED IN POT FIGHT Bill Designed To Root Out Grow-Ops Requires Utilities To Provide Information On Heavy Power Users B.C.'s towns and cities will get sweeping new powers to shut marijuana grow operations under provincial legislation introduced Thursday. In a move attacked by civil rights advocates and praised by police and firefighters, Solicitor General John Les tabled a bill that will require electrical companies to provide municipalities with information about houses with unusually high power bills. The city will then be able to relay the names and addresses of the people listed on the bills to police, fire and other officials, so they can target suspected grow-ops, Les said. Authorities will be required to give homeowners 48-hours notice of an inspection. "This amendment will help local authorities target and shut down marijuana grow operations more quickly and more efficiently," Les told the legislature, as B.C. fire chiefs watched from the public gallery. "Grow-ops are a rising concern in British Columbia. They are more likely to catch fire, they are more likely to have guns inside, they are more likely to be robbed, they pose a danger to our neighbourhoods, and we're determined to shut them down." The bill follows a pilot project in Surrey that dismantled 119 grow-ops in three months. But the legislation drew immediate criticism Thursday from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, because the law places few limits on local governments and police. "Talk about fishing expeditions," said Murray Mollard, the association's executive director. "This could be the Grand Poobah of fishing expeditions, in that local government now has the authority to go and demand everyone's Hydro information." Mollard said the law has the potential to target innocent people, who have saunas, inefficient heating systems, or legitimate reasons for using large amounts of power. He also said it may encourage criminals to bypass Hydro altogether, and set up more dangerous power sources. B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis questioned the need to replace the current system, whereby police obtain information from B.C. Hydro under the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. He said the new bill and others like it "amount to a form of surveillance, involving compilation and use of information about entire classes of citizens without grounds for individualized suspicion of wrongdoing," he wrote. "Such initiatives are multiplying at all levels of government in Canada and are a cause for concern." Loukidelis said the electricity information should only be disclosed to police to ensure that safety inspections don't interfere with ongoing police investigations at the same location. But Les defended the bill as necessary to protect public safety in the face of a multi-billion-dollar industry with ties to organized crime. "When you've got houses burning down, as we frequently do. . . . When we have houses exploding, literally, in neighbourhoods and damaging neighbouring property, I think the case has clearly been made." Besides, Les said the law won't necessarily result in more criminal convictions, because the two-day notice effectively tips off the bad guys. Still, Saanich police Sgt. John Price, who welcomed the bill, said police are unlikely to permit grow operators to "cut and run" with their drugs. "Although we're required to issue a notice . . . the criminals can be made very aware that they will not be allowed to pack up their portable plants and hydroponic equipment and relocate. We will ensure that that doesn't happen." - --- MAP posted-by: Tom