GROW-OP LEGISLATION IRKS CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUP

Proposed legislation that targets marijuana grow-ops by requiring
B.C. Hydro to hand over electricity usage information to
municipalities is "troubling" and nothing more than a "breathtaking
fishing expedition," the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA)
said yesterday.

Murray Mollard, executive director of the BCCLA, said if Bill 25,
Amendments to the Safety Standard Act, passes, municipal governments
and police would have access to everybody's electrical records.

"We find it troubling," said Mollard. "We think there is a privacy
interest in people's electrical consumption data -- just as there is
a privacy interest in who we make phone calls to, and what Internet
websites we visit."

Forest Minister Rich Coleman introduced the legislation yesterday to
target and shutdown marijuana growops.

"Grow-ops are more likely to catch fire, more likely to have guns
inside and are more likely to be robbed. They pose a danger to our
neighbourhoods and we're determined to shut them down," Coleman said
in a news release.

Mollard said the government was going out of its way to characterize
the bill as being about safety, and not about crime.