WARRANTS NEEDED FOR INSPECTIONS

Pitt Meadows will now require a warrant to search homes suspected of
being marijuana-grow operations.

The change to the city's Public Safety Inspection Program comes after
a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling Thursday that a similar program in
Surrey violates basic privacy rights of residents guaranteed under
Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The section
protects the public from unreasonable search and seizure.

"It will impact us, but it will not prohibit the program from
continuing," Ridge-Meadows RCMP Supt. Dave Walsh said.

"Even though they're just doing safety inspections, there still is an
onus on them to seek some judicial authorization to obtain that entry."

Under the program, occupants of residences with abnormally high
energy usage are given 24 hours notice before a bylaw officer,
electrical inspector and fire personnel search the premises.

Municipal staff will now need to draft an administrative search
warrant under the Community Charter for a judge to grant approval
prior to entry, Walsh said.

This type of search warrant requires less burden of proof than
Criminal Code warrants, he added.

The Public Safety Inspection Program was introduced in 2007 to reduce
the number of grow-ops in the city. While there has been a small
increase in the number of grow-ops in the past few years, the number
of electrical safety inspections has continued to drop.

There were three confirmed grow-ops in 2007, six in 2008 and seven in
2009, according to RCMP.

The inspection team visited 38 homes in 2007, followed by 12 in 2008
and seven in 2009. So far this year there have been no searches.

However, there are currently eight homes waiting for inspection,
based on consumption figures provided by B.C. Hydro, said bylaw
officer Lesley Elchuk.

"We're not getting as many inspections," she said.

Overall high energy usage in Pitt Meadows is down, something Elchuck
credits to the success of the program.

While the program is helping weed out grow-ops in the city, Walsh
says it is difficult to measure its direct impact.

"Is it totally going to stop them? Absolutely not, but it may
convince some to move," he said.

"In a community that has the program, it's going to put more pressure
on those who would consider growing to maybe want to move to an area
that doesn't have the program."