Pubdate: Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Maple Ridge News
Contact:  http://www.mapleridgenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328
Author: Monisha Martins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

CONTRARIES OF B.C. CIVIL FORFEITURE

Critics Call for Review of 'Flawed' Legislation

The lush rural property near Webster's Corner was a retirement plan 
for the elementary school teacher.

Purchased in 2003, Penelope Carlson boards horses on a paddock 
amongst tall Douglas firs and cedars.

As a favour to a friend, Carlson, 63, agreed to use a building on her 
four-hectare property to grow medical marijuana under Health Canada 
regulations.

It was an operation that was legal, sanctioned by federal laws.

Carlson's retirement plans were on track until November 2010, when an 
electrician tattled on her growop.

His tip led 23 Ridge Meadows RCMP officers to Carlson's home, guns 
drawn and clad in bullet-proof vests.

According to court documents filed by B.C.'s Director of Civil 
Forfeiture, RCMP found marijuana in three grow rooms in a building on 
Carlson's property and seized a total of 615 marijuana plants and 55 
ounces of dried marijuana.

Carlson was charged with production for the purpose of trafficking, 
but the charges were tossed out after the court learned the growop was legal.

Despite no conviction, the province is now attempting to seize 
Carlson's property under legislation that's increasingly being 
criticized for targeting the innocent.

Enacted in 2006, the civil-forfeiture law was touted as a tool to 
fight organized crime, but three cases from Maple Ridge filed in the 
past year show it has a much broader reach.

Carlson and the two men whose properties are up for seizure were 
reluctant to speak in-depth about the lawsuits.

"The situation of many respectable people like Penny who are being 
tortured financially and emotionally by the director of civil 
forfeiture's endless action are further victimized by society by such 
publicity," said Carlson's lawyer, Tonia Grace.

"She doesn't need more unfair stigma."

Port Coquitlam lawyer Josef Schwarz is also facing the prospect of 
losing his rental property at 12253 - 228 Street in Maple Ridge, 
below, after he failed to heed repeated requests to turf his 
drug-dealing tenants.

According to documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Ridge Meadows 
RCMP raided the yellow house, located near a playground, three times 
in the span of three months starting in January 2013. Crack, ecstasy 
and marijuana were seized and a 42-year-old woman is facing charges 
in connection with the busts.

After the first raid, Mounties contacted Schwarz and told him to help 
them reduce crime by "paying more attention" to the activities of his tenant.

Following the second raid, in February 2013, Schwarz was warned that 
the property could be "subject to civil or criminal restraint and forfeiture."

Though Schwarz was not party to any of the illegal activities and 
never charged criminally, seven months later B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture 
Office is targeting it on grounds the house was used as an instrument 
of unlawful activity.

The court documents state the defendant "did know or have reason to 
know of the unlawful acts of trafficking in and possession of 
controlled substances," and benefited from the income derived from 
renting it out.

Schwarz declined an interview.

"Regrettably, I am unavailable to discuss this matter with you. 
However, the [act] does seem contrary to our common sense 
understanding of fairness and justice," he said in an email.

"It is not surprising that there is a constitutional challenge of the 
legislation presently underway by one or more other parties."

The Civil Forfeiture Office can confiscate any property deemed to be 
the proceeds of unlawful activity and the B.C. law does not require 
criminal charges or a conviction to do so.

Since the office opened in 2006, the province reports it has 
collected $41-million from seizures of everything from houses and 
sports cars to helicopters.

Director of Civil Forfeiture Phil Tawtel insist the process does not 
violate Charter rights, noting the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld 
the constitutionality of civil forfeiture laws across the country.

"Civil forfeiture actions do not depend on criminal charges or 
convictions - but a rigorous, due process of law still applies," said Tawtel.

"The civil court process is entirely separate ... and involves taking 
action against property rather than people."

Critics of the program, however, call the process "fundamentally 
unfair" and a "cash cow" for the government.

"The whole notion that this is about property, not about people, is 
incredibly problematic," said Michael Vonn, a policy director with 
the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

"That's a complete legal fiction."

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has fielded a dozen complaints 
from people being targeted by the forfeiture office since it opened.

"We are hearing constantly of people settling because they cannot 
afford to fight," said Vonn.

"It is a massive access to justice issue. You have the unlimited 
resources of the state coming down on people who are in a position of 
not being able to defend themselves very effectively."

The province's Ombudsperson Kim Carter encourages people who feel 
that they have not been treated fairly by the administrative 
processes of the Civil Forfeiture Office to bring their complaints to her.

Carter noted there is a high level of public concern about the 
fairness of the forfeiture process and wants to ensure that people 
know all the options they have for addressing problems.

"While people know they can bring problems to the attention of the 
ministry, some may not be aware that my office can also respond to 
these complaints, and may be able to find fair resolutions," Carter said.

Ironically, the first group to file a legal challenge of the 
government's civil forfeiture law are B.C. Hells Angels, whose 
members claim it violates their constitutional rights.

The province, however, believes the legislation is an essential 
crime-fighting tool.

In 2013, Ridge Meadows RCMP forwarded 13 cases to the Civil 
Forfeiture Office, netting $122,711 in cash and vehicles. Four cases 
have been forwarded this year. Since 2006, there have 28 forfeitures 
from Ridge Meadows, totalling $376,975.

Cash gained from the forfeitures is returned to police forces and 
other organizations, such as the youth diversion program and Cythera 
Transition House Society, in the form of grants.

In 2012, Ridge Meadows RCMP received a $6,100 grant for the purchase 
of night vision goggles, tablet computers and a digital camera, while 
Cythera House and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Community Services 
received $5,000 and $25,000, respectively, for programs aimed at 
preventing violence against women and children.

"It's a very important tool to deal with criminal activity," said 
Maple Ridge-Mission MLA Marc Dalton, who championed the program 
locally as a way to snuff out illegal growops.

"It is doing what it was meant to do, which is to go after ill-gotten gains."

Dalton does not believe the program is unfairly targeting the 
innocent. He notes referrals must come from police, must have a 
public interest component and go through the courts.

"There are serious consequences to illegal activity. If it is not 
illegal, there is recourse," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom