JUDGE PULLS PLUG ON HYDRO DEFENCE

Surrey Family's Power Cut Off After Mounties Helped Utility Search
Home

A B.C. Supreme Court judge yesterday ordered the power reconnected to
a Surrey home because the inspectors who cut it off were escorted on
to the property by police.

"The judge said it becomes a warrantless search of a residence and how
can that be justified," said Ken Westlake, lawyer for homeowner Jason
Cyrus Arkinstall.

Arkinstall, 33, took the city and B.C. Hydro to court after he and his
wife and toddler were left without power in the 6,000-square-foot
house in the 13900-block of 34 Avenue on May 31.

"We cannot cook any meals for our son at home, we do not have hot
water, our food will spoil in the fridge, and we have virtually no
lighting at night," Arkinstall wrote in an affidavit filed in court on
June 1. "My wife and son intend to start staying in a hotel as of tonight."

Arkinstall described himself in his affidavit as a self-employed
businessman in concert promotion, real estate and winter-vacation tour
packages. He pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine after he was
arrested in 2005 along with several others, including the president of
the Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels, in B.C.'s largest
investigation of biker gangs. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

It's not known whether he's a member or an associate of the
gang.

Arkinstall's problems with Surrey date back to November 2005, when
city inspectors asked to inspect the house because the electricity
consumption was "unusually high," according to his affidavit. He
included his monthly consumption records, which showed a spike in
consumption in mid-2005, but nothing since.

Arkinstall noted he has an outdoor pool kept at 90 degrees
Fahrenheit.

He granted permission for the inspectors to enter, but not the police
without a warrant.

"Our electricity consumption returned to normal," he wrote and he
didn't hear from inspectors again until May 28, 2007, when again he
said the inspectors but not police could enter. The police insisted it
was necessary that they accompany the rest of the inspection team for
their safety, he said.

After the inspection on May 31, the power was disconnected, although
the Hydro employee "had seen our home contained nothing to warrant
disconnection," the writ said.

Westlake, in a letter to city inspectors last week, said his client
has "strong suspicions . . . your proposed inspection is not only
being done at the behest of the police but solely for their purposes."

Westlake said a hearing is set for October, which will include a
constitutional challenge of the police-escorted inspections.

The inspections are done under the provincial Safety Standards Act. In
a pilot project for Surrey, it allows authorities to inspect grow-op
homes for potentially hazardous electrical installations.