TOUGH LAW DEAD IN THE WATER

Unproclaimed 2007 Act Targeted Bootleggers, Drug Dens And
Brothels

A controversial law targeting drug houses, brothels and bootleggers
is dead in the water.

The Williams administration passed the Safer Communities and
Neighbourhoods Act, or SCAN, nearly three years ago.

But the law was never proclaimed.

And Justice Minister Felix Collins said Friday there are no plans to
do so.

"At this point in time, there's no inclination to proclaim it because
our priorities now have changed," Collins said.

"We've put significant investments into policing in the last couple
of years, and that's where our priorities have gone."

He said the province's policing budgets have increased $40 million
since 2004.

Collins said financial concerns played a role in deep-sixing the SCAN
law.

"It's a question of getting the best bang for the buck with the
resources you have," he noted.

But the minister could not put a dollar figure on how much
implementing the Safer Communities law would have cost taxpayers.

The SCAN act was first introduced in 2006, but died on the order
paper when the House of Assembly closed earlier than expected.

It was reintroduced and passed in June 2007. But it was not
proclaimed into law.

The act proved to be controversial. It was amended six times before
its approval, after social groups raised a number of concerns.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Feminist Coalition, for example, called
the new law "reactionary and vigilante."

In January 2008, the then-justice minister, Jerome Kennedy, said that
government officials were planning one last "community information
session" about the new law within weeks, and it would be proclaimed
"shortly after."

That didn't happen.

This week, the current justice minister said community concerns
played no role in SCAN being dumped. The law will remain unproclaimed
on the books and could possibly be revived at some point in the
future, Collins noted.

The Safer Community and Neighbourhoods Act was based on similar
legislation introduced in 2002 in Manitoba. Other provinces have
since jumped on board with the concept. It is currently being debated
in Ontario, for example.

The law would have allowed authorities to seek a judicial order
shutting down drug houses, brothels and bootleggers for up to 90 days.

To do so, a judge would have had to agree that the location was being
habitually used for a nefarious purpose, and was having an adverse
effect on the community.

The Newfoundland and Labrador act would have allowed for the creation
of a "director of safer communities and neighbourhoods," with a
contingent of investigators and support staff.

Concerned neighbours would have been able to complain to the director
about problem properties, with their identities remaining protected.

In 2007, then-justice minister Tom Osborne said the law addressed an
issue that police "constantly raised" with government.

"They have little ability to get at the root of the problem," Osborne
told The Telegram at the time.