CITY HEARING ABOUT CANNABIS CAFE TURNS INTO KANGAROO COURT

Vancouver city council's war against those who would make the city into an
Amsterdam on the Pacific, particularly the owners of the Cannabis Cafe,
turned into farce Tuesday.

Councillor George Puil, who was filling in for Mayor Philip Owen (absent
because of foot-in-mouth disease), and city lawyer John Nelson turned what
was ostensibly a hearing to determine if the cafe should get a business
licence into a kangaroo court.

Even two of his fellow councillors were astounded at the travesty that
occurred.

"Out to lunch," said Nancy Chiavario.

"Ridiculous," muttered Alan Herber.

The 20 or so spectators hurled worse epithets after a three-hour display of
municipal hubris.

At issue was the city's refusal to grant a 1998 business licence to Shelley
Francis, who operates Sister Icee's Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe at 307 West
Hastings Street.

These establishments were formerly owned by Marc Emery, who was a thorn in
the side of Owen and the police department because of his pro-marijuana
activism. (Owen wasn't in the chair or even present because comments he made
to a reporter forced him to remove himself from the hearing because of the
appearance of bias.)

Rather than cleaning up the crack dealers at Main and Hastings, police chose
to devote the time of undercover police officers to target against Emery,
whose upscale, trendy operations offered coffees, snacks, hemp products and
the illicit herb.

Faced with criminal charges and continuing police harassment, Emery sold his
businesses to Francis. Although she signed an agreement with the city
promising not to sell, promote, or facilitate the sale of marijuana and has
met the necessary requirements for a business permit, Francis finds herself
being persecuted, too.

City staff, for instance, hired an auditor to check whether she was paying
GST or PST, even though those taxes are completely outside municipal
jurisdiction.

When the business licence hearing was originally scheduled - so staff could
justify their egregious behaviour and Francis could make her case - she
found herself being damned by evidence gathered in a criminal case, launched
against her for selling drug paraphernalia such as pipes and rolling papers.

Francis has not been convicted of any offence in the last five years and she
has not faced trial yet for breaching a section of the criminal code whose
constitutionality is greatly in doubt. As a result, her lawyers asked BC
Supreme Court to prevent council from jeopardizing her right to a fair trial
by airing evidence related to the questionable charge.

An agreement was reached whereby Francis agreed to withdraw her application
for an injunction in exchange for the city focusing its case on specific
licensing concerns.

No sooner had Tuesday's hearing begun than it was evident Nelson had no
intention of abiding by the spirit of that agreement. "We are relying on a
literal interpretation of the agreement," he said smugly.

In his presentation, Nelson spent his time documenting Emery's
transgressions and referring councillors to the very police material that is
before the courts.

"The agreement we had with the city is being totally violated," said
ex-councillor Jonathan Baker, one of Francis' lawyers.

The constant objections by her lawyers at the way the hearing was being
conducted were mocked by Chairman Puil's pithy: "Noted."

When he couldn't finish the hearing Tuesday, Puil arbitrarily decided it
would reconvene Thursday.

Although lawyers for Francis and the city had agreed it would be put over
until the New Year, and although councillors were advised by the clerk's
office that it would be put over, Puil waved their complaints aside. If it
isn't finished on Thursday, he said he'd hold hearings on Christmas Day and
he didn't care who could come.

Checked-by: Don Beck