GROW-OP BYLAW LIKELY TO FAIL

London Police Chief Murray Faulkner's proposal to hold landlords
responsible for the costs of busting marijuana grow operations may
just be a non-starter.

Faulkner is to be commended for his zeal in ferreting out grow-ops
and trying to keep policing costs under control. But there are many
problems with his bylaw idea, which he concedes is only in its
"preliminary stages." It should probably be abandoned right there.

It places a difficult onus on landlords and is fraught with legal problems.

Jim Phillips, a professor in the faculty of law at the University of
Toronto whose expertise includes landlord, tenant and property law,
said such a bylaw would, in effect, download to landlords some of the
responsibilities of police and public health officials. That should
not be the landlord's domain.

It is one thing if landlords know marijuana is being grown in their
buildings and don't report it. It is quite another to hold landlords
responsible for checking their properties for offenders. It would be
difficult for them to carry out the inspections that would be needed
under such a bylaw.

Phillips says the landlord's conduct is restricted by the Tenant
Protection Act, which gives the tenant security of tenure. Its
underlying rationale is the rented property is the tenant's home and
he or she doesn't have to share it with the landlord.

The act says a landlord can only enter without written notice in an
emergency or if the tenant consents.

Landlords can enter after providing 24 hours' notice in certain
conditions. These include doing repairs, allowing a potential buyer,
mortgagee or insurer to view the property, inspections by municipal
officials, or any other reasonable cause included in the tenancy agreement.

Anyone running a marijuana grow operation in a rented property is not
likely to waive terms in the act that restrict landlord access.

It's also questionable whether a municipality could create such a
bylaw without infringing on the Criminal Code of Canada, which is the
domain of the federal government.

This road has too many twists. Better to look for a straighter one.