BUST UP OVER SURREY'S ANTI-MARIJUANA LAW

Landlords could be fined $7,500 for a pot bust in rental homes under
Surrey's controversial new anti-marijuana bylaw. Mayor Doug McCallum

Critics say Surrey's new anti-marijuana law is a bust.

Fed up with soaring police and firefighting costs associated with marijuana
grow-ops, council has passed a bylaw that will fine landlords up to $7,500
for pot busts in rental homes.

Mayor Doug McCallum said the community is "up in arms" after 350 raids last
year costing $875,000.

"It's the landlords' responsibility to rent to people who aren't going to
carry on illegal activities," he said.

Surrey Coun. Bob Bose said landlords who "don't pay attention" are
"inviting this stuff."

And the Mounties have hailed by bylaw as a "tool" in dealing with drugs.

"This gets the homeowners' attention by hitting them in the pocketbook,"
said RCMP Cpl. Janice Armstrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong, say civil libertarians and lawyers for other
municipalities.

They say the Criminal Code -- a federal law not subject to amendment by
Surrey -- neither deputizes landlords to do police work nor holds them
responsible for crimes committed by tenants.

"It's unconstitutional," said Marc Emery, president of the B.C. Marijuana
Party. "In fact, we're already hiring a lawyer to challenge that to get a
court ruling on it."

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association also has "serious concerns" about the
bylaw.

"I think there's going to be a lot of legal questions about the law," said
association policy director Garth Barriere. "The municipality is trying to
pass criminal law which only the federal parliament can do."

He noted that landlords trying to obey the bylaw might run afoul of common law.

"A landlord has an obligation under the common law to give tenants what is
called quiet enjoyment of their rental property. So he's not supposed to be
snooping around all the time," said Barriere.

"This bylaw seems to be downloading responsibility of the police on to
landlords," he added. "And that's not what landlords are there to do. This
bylaw is to punish a landlord for something he hasn't done."

Langley Township rejected a virtually identical bylaw to Surrey's.

"The RCMP has jurisdictional powers well surpassing the township's bylaws,"
said Bill Storie, senior bylaw officer.

"Our council wondered why the RCMP would need that type of bylaw when they
already have the federal power to handle" drug offences.

"In their zeal, councils tend to vastly overstep what's reasonable," said
Burnaby Coun. Derek Corrigan. "It opens up a whole can of worms. It's
presuming the landlord should have knowledge."

"We don't have the authority to just arbitrarily penalize someone," said
Paul Teichroeb, chief licence inspector for the City of Vancouver. "There
has to be a process and generally it's through the courts."

The city does charge the landlord a standard inspection fee of $339 after a
grow-up is busted by police, and also bills the owner for any necessary
electrical, plumbing and building permits.

Teichroeb noted the aftermath of a grow-op can cost a landlord "many tens
of thousands of dollars" in house repairs.

Surrey's Coun. Bose said he expects the bylaw, which imposes a fine of up
to $5,000 along with up to $2,500 in police costs, to be challenged in court.

"If the owner was unaware, by virtue of a successful concealment,
presumably he can appeal the fine," he said.

But he insisted landlords should check out their tenants closely.

"Illicit drug operations are not pursued exclusively by tattooed,
hairy-chested bikers," he said. "Sometimes they're regular people in
three-piece suits."

GROW-OP FACTS

What is a marijuana grow-op?

A collection of high-powered sodium lights, fans, CO2 bottles, ozone
filters, soil, water and marijuana plants. Housed indoors in B.C., the
operations are concealed by false walls, blankets over windows and air
removal systems.

What does it grow? Skunk, a smelly,

high-grade form of marijuana. It sells for about $2,500 a pound here and
double that in the U.S.

How many grow-ops are there?

RCMP estimate there are 7,000 commercial growing operations in the Lower
Mainland and 10,000 in B.C.

What are they worth?

Once called the province's biggest cash crop, B.C.-grown marijuana (indoor
and outdoor) is worth an estimated $2 billion to $4 billion per year.