WARRANTLESS SEARCH UPSETS HOMEOWNER

Jim Peach Says Officials Threatened To Cut Off His Power When He
Balked At An Inspection Of His Home

As lawyers argued this week over the authorities' right to demand
access to homes suspected of containing marijuana grow-ops, Coquitlam
resident Jim Peach was still fuming at being confronted by a posse of
police and inspectors who came to his door last week because his
electricity use was high.

"I had to suffer the indignity of having my home invaded because they
thought I had a grow-op," Peach said.

Peach was surprised when city inspectors and two RCMP officers showed
up at his home April 9 with a bylaw notice saying they wanted to
search the home on Hull Court because electricity consumption was
abnormally high.

Peach denied he was growing marijuana but told them to come in anyway
and look around.

"They said no. They would be back the next day," he
said.

Peach lives on Vancouver Island and stays in the Coquitlam home four
days a week. He was planning to return to Vancouver Island the next
day.

"I said that's not convenient because I'm going away Thursday and
wouldn't be at home," Peach said.

"They told me if I didn't cooperate they'd cut off my
power."

Peach was told his Hydro consumption was 143 kilowatt hours a day.
Normal consumption is around 32 kilowatt hours a day.

Under provincial legislation, BC Hydro has to inform local authorities
if a customer's energy consumption shows unusually high levels -- in
the region of 92 kilowatt hours a day -- which could indicate
commercial-scale marijuana cultivation.

Using a recent amendment to the B.C. Safety Standards Act, fire and
safety officers accompanied by police carry out safety
inspections.

This process allows police into a home without a warrant and is under
attack by lawyers representing a Surrey couple whose power was cut off
for refusing to allow police in during an inspection that found no
signs of marijuana cultivation.

Peach was surprised his home was using such large amounts of
electricity, as his Hydro bills didn't seem unusual.

"I rent this house and it's only got electrical power and it's pretty
drafty," said Peach, who said he has never had any trouble with the
law or been involved in any offences involving marijuana.

"I'm just an accountant. I've never had any problems at all," he
said.

The fire officer told Peach that even if all his baseboard heaters,
water heater and appliances were turned on full they wouldn't consume
such an amount of electricity, and Peach became alarmed that the home
had some sort of electrical fault or that someone was stealing his
power and his monthly bill would be enormous.

He called BC Hydro and was told his bimonthly bill was
$560.

"I said, 'Is this a problem?' and the woman said, 'No you're okay' and
I told her what had happened, and she said there were a whole bunch of
people in Coquitlam who were upset because of these searches," he said.

Next, he phoned a city information number that was on the bylaw notice
demanding entry.

A woman answered and Peach said he told her a mistake had been made
and that Hydro had told him there was nothing unusual about his power
consumption.

"She said, 'No you've got it wrong and the inspection will take place
as scheduled,' and if I didn't let them in they'll shut the power
off," he said.

Then he complained to the fire chief's office, the city manager and
the mayor's office without result, he said.

When he spoke with someone in the fire chief's office he was asked why
he was so upset.

"I said, 'How would you feel if the RCMP showed up at your home and
demanded to get in?' " Peach said. "'How many firefighters and city
officials have had police inspecting their houses like this?' And he
had no answer."

Then he went to the Internet and looked up the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms and found Section 8, which deals with a citizen's
right to be protected from unreasonable search and seizure -- the
issue being argued this week in front of B.C. Supreme Court Justice
William Smart.

"I'd resigned myself to the fact it was going to happen, so next day
eight of them show up, including two police officers, and I told them,
'You're making a mistake, you've either miscalculated or been given
misleading information,' and they told me I didn't know what I was
talking about," he said.

"I told the police that under Section 8 they couldn't carry out a
search without a warrant and they said they were there as protection
for the inspectors, and if I didn't let them in, the inspectors
wouldn't go in and they'd cut the power. As far as I'm concerned, that
was a form of extortion and intimidation and I didn't like it.

"This is a cold, drafty house and they found nothing. It's
embarrassing, too. All the neighbours saw what was going on. In fact,
the guy next door came over and said they should search his place
because his Hydro bills were the same as mine," said Peach.

Mayor Maxine Wilson was asked why Peach was made to submit to a search
during an inconvenient time after he had offered to let police in, and
was threatened with his power being shut off if he didn't comply.

She said she couldn't comment on the affair as she didn't have any
information.

"I sympathize with Mr. Peach, but he was delivered a notice 48 hours
in advance," she said.

Peach denied ever receiving a notice, nor was any notice given to his
sons, who live in the home, he said.

Coquitlam corporate communications manager Therese Michelson said the
reason the first team wouldn't do the search was that a full team was
needed to carry out an inspection.

Asked why a team of two police officers, a fire inspector and a bylaw
safety officer wouldn't be capable of finding a commercial-sized
marijuana operation in a family home, she said searches followed a
protocol that required a full team, including an electrical inspector.

Asked why Peach was threatened with having his power cut off, she said
she doubted this threat had been made, as that was not policy.

"When get refused access we don't cut power," she said. "We can issue
a ticket or seek a warrant. Cutting power is not something we do."

Told that Peach had been repeatedly threatened with having his power
cut off, Michelson said that if that was going on it would have to
stop.