CONVICTED POT GROWER 'TIP OF THE ICEBERG'

A man convicted of marijuana production, who may get to keep the proceeds of
his crime, represents just the tip on the iceberg, says Langley - Abbotsford
(Conservative) MP Randy White.

On March 22, Langley resident Phu Son, 48, pleaded guilty to producing a
controlled substance, marijuana.

Son, who owns a house in Abbotsford, and whose wife and son each own a
house, in Aldergrove and Langley, came to Canada in 1994 with no money, and
has been on welfare for the past 10 years, according to White.

Son received a nine-month conditional sentence, to be served in the
community, with 25 hours of community service.

He is to report to a bail supervisor, and is restricted to his home between
the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

A person who answered the phone at Son's Langley home Tuesday said Son was
out, and would not be back until evening.

Both Son and another family member were quoted in a Vancouver newspaper,
saying Son had not abused welfare, and was employed as a mushroom farm
worker. White says there are many more people like Son, collecting welfare
and involved in marijuana production. White has a list of 80 or 90 other
convicted marijuana producers who were also collecting welfare.

"These are just selected cases. . .

"Esse ntially, (Son) is just the tip of the iceberg, because there are
thousands more like him, and it has got to stop," White said.

White suggests that judges and lawyers must take a harder line on the issue.
Even defence counsel must change their attitude, says White.

"The job of a defence attorney is to make sure the individual gets a fair
hearing, guilty or innocent. It is not to get them off, once they are found
guilty.

"He was guilty, so (the lawyers) have got to change their attitude. Far too
often, people are found guilty, and they take it the next step: Let's see if
we can get them no penalty. That's not their job.

"I have reported him to welfare," White said. "I have reported him to the
police, I have spoken to the issue in the House of Commons."

White also said that the federal government has to make the current
cumbersome proceeds of crime legislation easier to enforce. He'd like to see
the assets of criminals seized, and used for rehabilitation.

'I'm going to pursue this until this changes, because both the federal and
provincial government are being negligent on this issue. "They know darn
well it is impossible for anybody to come into this country with no money,
and end up with all these cars that he has, three houses. That is
impossible.

"The average Canadian can not do that. Either he has misrepresented his
income to the taxation department, or he will have to explain how he got all
that money."

White has also made a complaint to the Canada Revenue Agency.