TENANTS FIGHTING EVICTIONS FOLLOWING POT BUST

Three Britannia Beach residents challenge landlord's ouster bid

Growing marijuana at home can lead to a jail sentence, but not necessarily
an eviction.

Three Britannia Beach residents are challenging their landlord's attempt to
evict them for allegedly growing marijuana in their leased homes.

Ralph Fulber says his family agrees completely that people who damage other
people's property through marijuana grow operations should be evicted.

But he says that his brother Ronald Fulber and sister-in-law Filomena
Fulber who all live on property formerly owned by a local mining project,
aren't wrecking their rented homes.

"You are talking about people who absolutely abhor that type of treatment
of somebody else's property," Ralph Fulber said in a telephone interview.

Fulber, 48, said he has spent $25,000 of his own money on renovations of
the property during the 15 years he and his son Royce have lived on the site.

He said he was growing marijuana to create a medical supply for his brother
Ronald, who suffers from hepatitis C.

Fulber is the former head of the Britannia Beach community association and
former volunteer firefighter. His brother Ron still serves as a volunteer
in the department.

They claim in documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday that the
provincial residential tenancy branch violated its own policies when it
upheld an eviction notice for their two homes leased from receivers
PricewaterhouseCoopers. That decision came after a police raid on their
homes. The eviction notice is effective March 31, unless the Fulbers
succeed in obtaining a stay until their B.C. Supreme Court application is
heard.

Cindy McKinney, a media representative for the provincial ministry of the
attorney-general said privacy regulations prevent her from speaking about a
particular tenancy dispute.

She said tenancy branch regulations do not deal specifically with marijuana
grow operations, but said the branch's Web site does.

The page states that conclusive evidence of a full-scale grow operation
could support an eviction notice based on the likelihood of harm it could
cause to property or other tenants, especially where amateur electrical
wiring could cause a fire or water damage could cause financial loss.

The Web site states, however, that, "If a tenant's illegal activity is
causing no damage to the landlord or tenants, and is not likely to cause
any risk or damage, the landlord may not be successful in ending the
tenancy on this ground."

Squamish RCMP found fewer than 100 plants during the raid. Fulber said
they were cuttings from other plants that he hoped to plant outside at a
later date.

PricewaterhouseCoopers declined comment on the case.

But Fulber said he suspects someone wanted them off the property because
oftheir community activism, especially their drive to purchase the homes
and because of their complaints to the provincial government about
pollution from the old mine.

PricewaterhouseCoopers took over management of the site in 1994 after
Copper Beach Estates missed a deadline for cleanup of acidic fluid leaking
from the area.

Britannia Mining and Smelting Company ran the copper mine between 1902 and
1963. Anaconda Mining Company took over in 1963 and shut the mine in 1974.

Fulber said he will fight the charge of unlawfully producing a controlled
substance when his case goes to court in September.

He said Ronald and Filomena Fulber also intend to fight the same charge
when their case is set for Squamish provincial court in July.