NEW MARSHAL IN TOWN

Provincial Official Expected To Have Impact On Grow-Ops

Toronto - As fire chief in the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario's new
fire marshal garnered a reputation for helping police tear down
marijuana grow operations through his aggressive approach to fire prevention.

Although he says he is taking aim at fire hazards, not drugs, Patrick
Burke is expected to have an impact on grow-ops and drug labs across
the province when he steps into the provincial role today.

"All we're interested in is the correction and prosecution of blatant
fire code violations," says Burke, who served with the Windsor fire
department for 34 years before becoming chief in Niagara Falls in 2002.

"We do that with every life-safety issue in Niagara
Falls."

Since adopting a "zero-tolerance" approach to fire safety several
years ago, Burke says the Niagara Falls fire department has levied
some $1.5 million in fines under the Fire Prevention and Protection
Act.

That's in addition to any Criminal Code charges laid by
police.

While not all the fines pertain to grow-ops or clandestine drug labs,
Niagara Falls firefighters have helped dismantle more than 100 such
operations in the last 2 1/2 years.

A serious fire risk as a result of the chemicals, heat lamps and
elaborate hydro bypass schemes involved, grow ops also pose a health
and safety risk to neighbours and the enforcement officials who enter
them, says Burke.

"It wouldn't matter to me if they were growing marijuana or tomatoes.
If they bypass hydro and they're not complying with all of the
requirements of the (fire) code, than we're going to act," he says.

And since the Act was amended last year to specifically target
marijuana grow houses, the penalties have doubled.

Individuals can now face fines of up to $50,000, a year in jail, or
both, while corporations could be on the hook for $100,000.

As far as Burke is concerned, the charges shouldn't be directed only
at those producing the drugs. Landlords, superintendents and property
management companies all share the blame.

"They have a responsibility to know what's going on on the premises,"
he says.

Given the short jail sentences pot growers often receive, Ontario
Association of Chiefs of Police president Terry McLaren says the large
fines doled out as a result of Niagara's commitment to uphold the
province's building and fire codes could also prove to be a deterrent.

"Sometimes they have a lot more teeth than the law does related to
grow houses," McLaren said.

Over the last eight months, Niagara Falls firefighters have also taken
advantage of recent amendments to the Municipal Act and posted some 70
"hazardous occupancy" and "no occupancy" orders on residences used as
marijuana grow ops.

"(It's) so nobody can go in them and throw a quick paint job and lease
them or sell them," says Burke.

The modest father and grandfather, who also holds a law degree and was
recently named president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs,
will admit that Niagara has become an authority on the subject of
dismantling grow ops and prosecuting offenders under fire
legislation.

The city hosted a nationwide seminar on marijuana grow operations,
while local fire prevention officers are often called upon to educate
justices of the peace and prosecutors on the matter.

"Niagara is one of the leaders in the country in dealing with this
problem," Burke says. "The interest level has been peaked and it's a
bit of a byproduct of what's going on with the wave of marijuana grow
operations that are setting up in the province."

An exceptionally large recent bust in Toronto has again brought the
subject to the attention of Ontario legislators.

The discovery of a massive grow house spread through 22 apartments in
a Toronto highrise, prompted Opposition Leader John Tory to call on
the government to establish a provincewide directory of homes used to
grow pot.

He highlighted the Toronto case, in which the superintendent was among
three men charged criminally, as an example of the lax standards of
some landlords and building managers.

Burke says anything that will increase public awareness and safety is
a good thing.