GROUP WANTS LANDLORDS TO BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR CRIME

A community safety group is pushing for Ontario to follow the lead of
several other provinces and pass tough legislation that will hold
landowners accountable for criminal activities taking place on their
property.

"It takes just one crack house in the neighbourhood to threaten the
entire community's safety," says Stephanie Strudwick, chair of
Concerned Citizens for Safer Neighbourhoods.

"This is another tool to keep residents safe by giving landowners more
power but also more responsibility."

Strudwick is leading the charge to have Ontario implement the Safer
Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (SCAN), a program already
implemented in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon.

She says the act would give provincial Justice Departments the power
to seek out and shut down buildings that are being used for activities
such as prostitution or drug activity.

SCAN would not be formally affiliated with provincial or local police,
but SCAN employees often contact and have close relationships with the
local police. Instead, retired police officers and surveillance
experts are hired by the province to form a SCAN unit.

The program encourages residents to report suspicious activity or file
complaints about residences to the unit.

The complaint is kept confidential and the identity of those who file
it cannot, at any time, be revealed.

If the SCAN team believe "on a balance of probabilities" that illegal
activity is taking place, the property owner will immediately be
informed of the situation.

In most cases, the property owner will then evict the
tenants.

If the land owner refuses to evict, or if illegal activity continues,
a court order can shut down the residence for 90 days or
permanently.

Ralph Neumann, who owns and rents out residential buildings in
Centretown, says he would love to see legislation such as SCAN
implemented by the Ontario government.

"The current tenant's act protects everyone, even the criminal," says
Neumann.

"If a landlord believes, for valid reasons, that people are selling
cocaine from his property, he should be able to easily kick that
person out. Right now, it is not that easy."

Neumann also says if landlords are told by the unit about criminal
activity taking place on their property and do not evict the tenants,
than shutting down the residence is fair game.

"If they turn a blind eye to the crime and simply collect the [rent]
cheque then they are as much responsible as the criminals," says Neumann.

The current legislation does not hold land owners responsible, in any
form, for criminal activity taking place on their property.

"The police might spend an entire year making a case against
criminals, and even if the landlord was aware of what was going on in
the house but did nothing, he gets off scott-free," says Strudwick.

"He is free to rent the apartment the next day, no
repercussions."

Not everyone disagrees with current legislation.

Dan McIntyre, spokesperson for the Federation of Metro Tenants'
Associations, says the current legislation is working; there is no
need to make it easier to evict people, even when criminal activity is
taking place.

"My fear is that this would lead to a whole bunch of quickie evictions
without due cause," says McIntyre. "Landlords now have a right to
inspect properties and to gatekeep the property before renting."

Pamela Connolly, chair of the Dalhousie Community Association Safety
Committee, says it took police 18 months to shut down a drug house
near Elm Street.

She says if Ontario had SCAN in place, the tenant could have been
evicted much sooner.

"The police are human and can only work on so much at one time," says
Strudwick. "This is an additional tool, not to replace the police but
to help the police deal with criminal activity at the neighbourhood
level."

Strudwick and her group plan to state their case to Ontario's attorney
general in December.