GROW-OP BUILDING PLAGUED BY MOULD

Politicians Say Innocent Residents Should Be Compensated

After the discovery of a huge marijuana grow operation in a North York
high-rise, local politicians are asking that its tenants be
compensated amid growing concerns about their health and safety in the
building.

Ontario Conservative leader John Tory and Councillor George Mammoliti
knocked on doors and held an impromptu town hall meeting yesterday in
the lobby of 2600 Jane St., where police on Thursday found millions of
dollars' worth of marijuana being grown in 22 units of the building.

They listened in the small lobby as some two dozen residents expressed
fears for their health and safety. They shared stories of mould on
their walls, strong smells, power being repeatedly shut off for hours
- -- and their complaints going all but ignored.

Karina Aguilar, who has lived in a three-bedroom unit in the building
for two years, said her three children recently developed rashes. Her
11-year-old daughter and 14-month-old and five-year-old sons were put
on antibiotics after her doctor told her the cause of the rashes was
most likely mould in her apartment, she said.

Toronto police say grow-ops use chemicals and soil that can lead to
mould growth, which can cause respiratory problems.

"I hardly ever saw management here. They were very, very rude to me
when I called [to complain about the mould], Ms. Aguilar said.

"They finally came and fixed it, ironically, [on] the same day the
police [did] the raids."

Mr. Tory called on Premier Dalton McGuinty to use the Victims' Justice
Fund to help residents of the 13-storey apartment building.

"[There is] a great sense of disappointment about [the] fact that ...
all of us in government together haven't assured them more quickly
that their apartments are healthy to stay in," Mr. Tory said.

Mr. Mammoliti promised to put forth a resolution at city council
asking Cando Property Management Ltd., which owns the 700-resident
building, to offer some form of compensation to the residents, though
he added that the city cannot force the management company to offer
them anything.

He said he did not know if management ever collected rent from the 22
units that were being used as grow-ops.

The councillor also organized a community meeting on Saturday, with
more than 120 people coming out to Domenico DiLuca Community Centre in
North York to talk with city officials. The property managers were
invited to the meeting but did not attend. Calls to Cando Property
Management were not returned yesterday.

This year, the Ontario Provincial Police has discovered about 450
indoor and outdoor grow operations with almost 140,000 plants.

Mr. Mammoliti believes the Jane Street building was targeted because
of its tenants.

"People take advantage when a majority of people [in the building]
can't speak English and are afraid to talk to authorities about their
problems," he said.

Mr. Tory added that stiffer sentences are needed for those found
guilty of running grow-ops.

Raids on five apartments on Thursday quickly expanded to more units
when police suspected other apartments were being used as soil-based
marijuana grow operations.