Pubdate: Sun, 09 Apr 2006
Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 North Shore News
Contact:  http://www.nsnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311
Author: James Weldon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

NEW HYDRO LAW ON GROW OPS DEBATED

A newly proposed law aimed at locating marijuana grow operations  
could be a valuable weapon in the battle to drive them from the North  
Shore, say authorities, but  the proposed rule change is also raising  
hackles among  privacy advocates.

If passed Bill 25, The Safety Standards Amendment Act, introduced in  
the provincial legislature Thursday, will grant municipalities the  
right to access electricity records of BC Hydro customers without  
going through the judicial system. Under the proposed law, local  
governments could then pass on any of that information to their  
police force for further investigation.

The law is meant to make it easier for police to spot  grow ops,  
which typically devour power at a high rate, but the move has civil  
liberties advocates fuming.

"Anything I do in my home is my business. It's nobody  else's unless  
the state has a compelling interest and justification for accessing  
my information," said  Murray Mollard, executive director of the B.C.  
Civil  Liberties Union.

At the moment, police must demonstrate reasonable grounds for  
suspicion and then obtain a search warrant to access the personal  
records of a hydro customer.

"This provision actually provides a back door for undermining that,"  
said Mollard.

The proposed law is part of a larger pattern of legal erosion of  
privacy in Canada, he added. "We see a push by government generally  
to collect more and more information about its citizens," said  
Mollard, pointing  to efforts at the federal level to make it easier  
to  access phone records.

But police officials aren't buying that argument. For them, the new  
rules would do far more to protect residents than to harm them.

"The safety of the community outweighs any concerns that individuals  
might express about hydro consumption being disclosed to the police  
or fire agencies," said  Sgt. Paul Skelton, spokesman for the West  
Vancouver  Police Department.

The hazards of illegal cultivation are well known, he said, as  
illustrated by the explosion at a British Properties grow operation  
earlier this week.

That sentiment was echoed by firefighters.

"From a fire department standpoint our number 1 priority is life  
safety," said Victor Penman, assistant fire chief for the District of  
North Vancouver Fire Rescue Services. Penman was careful to note that  
he had not yet looked closely at the proposed legislation, but he  
agreed with the plan in principle.

Grow ops are a major concern not only for residents,  but for  
emergency personnel as well, said Penman. The illegal operations can  
contain any number of hazards from illegal wiring and propane hookups  
to booby traps and even armed occupants.

"As the number of these operations increases in the community, the  
likelihood grows that first responders and the general public will  
unknowingly walk into a life-threatening situation."

Knowing that a given residence has suspiciously high  power  
consumption would give responders a heads up, and reduce the chances  
of injury, he said.

Mollard, however, rejects the argument for safety,  saying that grow  
operators will adapt in a way that might actually increase danger.

"It's going to encourage whoever's doing this to bypass the  
electrical system ... or to look at alternative power sources," he  
said, suggesting some might turn to propane instead - something that  
utility bills would not reveal. "That's a very dangerous source of  
energy and you're going to see more of that."

That claim does not convince Skelton, however.

"Every time laws come into place criminals always alter their means  
to circumvent laws and get around them," he said. "If we sit back  
idly and don't do anything, it's going to be business as usual for  
them."

No one is claiming it will be the ultimate solution, added Skelton.

"It's just another tool," he said. "I don't think by  any stretch of  
the imagination it's going to be the last piece of legislation we're  
going to see . . . to deal with this growing epidemic," he said.

Either way, the bill is not yet law, and will likely be the subject  
of further debate before it is passed.

"From our point of view, the legislation is somewhat constitutionally  
suspect from the get go," said  Mollard. "I can imagine this  
legislation being  challenged at some point in court."
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