GROW OP PROGRAM WILL CONTINUE, FIRE CHIEF SAYS

B.C.'s highest court has struck down Surrey's grow op program, saying
that it infringes the right to unreasonable search and seizure.

Surrey' Fire Chief Len Garis said it will add some time to the process
in order to obtain an administrative warrant, but the program will
continue.

Surrey embarked on the Electrical Fire and Safety Initiative in 2004,
and has dramatically decreased the number of marijuana grow operations
in this city.

Under the system, municipal teams - including fire, bylaws and police
- - visit homes where BC Hydro reports higher-than-normal power
consumption.

The occupants get a warning notice that they have 72 hours to allow an
inspection. Most of the time, grow operators have packed up and left
by the time inspectors arrive.

In Arkinstall v. City of Surrey in 2008, a B.C. Supreme Court Judge
ruled that Surrey could continue the program without police, using
municipal teams to spot the errant wiring.

But the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled this this week that the program
violates the basic Charter rights of residents even to allow a
municipal inspector into the home.

"There is a 'hierarchy of places', atop of which is the home.
Importantly for our purposes, the hierarchy decreases in the level of
expected privacy as one moves from the home to the perimeter space
around the home, to commercial space, to private cars, to schools, and
then, at the bottom, to prisons," Chief Justice Lance Finch wrote in
the finding, adding the searches undertaken are extremely invasive.

"They involve walking through the entire residence, searching
electrical panels, and very involved searches of attic spaces, and
crawl spaces."

Finch noted in his finding that while law allows local inspectors to
examine electrical wiring, in this case "they infringe the appellants'
rights under s. 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

Section 8 of the Charter protects the public from unreasonable search
and seizure.

The finding was unanimous among the five Appeal Court
justices.

While details haven't been completely flushed out, Garis believes the
teams will now simply apply for administrative warrants, then post
notices that they'll execute that search order in 72 hours.

In all, he believes the city will have a better system as a
result.

"It's crisp, and it addresses all of these issues at a high enough
level high enough that most people should be satisfied that there's
enough rigour going into it," Garis said.