DRUG BYLAW ALLOWS TIME FOR HARVEST

A couple of weeks ago I received a cute little information package
from the District of Maple Ridge.

To summarise this information briefly, I am now expected to inspect my
rental property every three months for "drug-related criminal
activity." My first reaction was that this requirement confirmed the
opinion I had formed over the past few years, that the RCMP was
continuing its policy of withdrawing from the law enforcement business.

However, further reading of the bylaw and covering letter suggests
that myfirst impression might be an oversimplification. Firstly, why
the three-monthly inspection requirement? In three months a tenant can
grow and harvest a crop of marijuana, completely destroy a dwelling
and move on.

This situation virtually guarantees that no landlord will ever
discover and report a grow op in order to avoid having to pay the
municipal costs that are incurred when such a business is shut down by
the RCMP.

Of course that is one of the intents of the three-month inspection
requirement. Services have decreased whilst taxes have gone up in a
municipality where costs are running completely out of control. It's
just a cash grab.

Another important reason for the three-month rule is that council will
have been advised by their lawyer that, by limiting the inspections to
three-month intervals, the bylaw does not contravene the section of
the Residential Tenancy Act that implies the tenant's rights (under
common law) of the "right to quiet enjoyment" of their dwelling.

This advice probably originated from the same person who told them
that the original municipal hall financing agreement was legal.

A third important consideration is that, although this bylaw will have
no impact on the drug manufacturing and grow-op scene, council will be
seen to be "doing something." The fact that this "something" is inept,
useless, incompetent, ineffectual,and causes inconvenience to both
landlord and tenant will probably be lost on most people. An upside,
though, is that the bylaw has the potential for further enriching more
of the lawyers that infest this country.

I remember that when Morse was first elected to council she set
herself the task of weeding out and revoking useless bylaws. Time to
get started , Mayor Morse, only nine months to the next municipal elections.

John Cochran

Maple Ridge