PRIVACY LEGISLATION IMPEDES POT BATTLE, CRIME SUMMIT TOLD

Current Laws Limit Communication Between Police, Private Sector

Overrestrictive privacy laws are preventing corporate Ontario from helping
police and governments in their fight against marijuana grow operations, a
two-day summit organized by the province has heard.

"Changes in legislation are required for us to be able to pass information
through to police, and for proper search warrants to be taken out," John
Sanderson, president of Aurora Hydro Connections Ltd., said at the
conclusion of the Green Tide Summit yesterday.

He argued that current legislation severely limits what electricity
companies can tell police, even though abnormally high levels of power
consumption often reveal where illegal grow operations are located.

More than 160 delegates from the private sector, police organizations and
all three levels of government met in Toronto this week to determine ways
to better prevent and detect grow operations across the province.

Calling it an "unprecedented" response to the issue, Ean Algar, president
of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said yesterday he is "very
excited" about the changes he believes will be made as a result of the
conference.

"It's not just the police that are struggling here. It is other agencies
that have been impacted as well, and there is an element of co-operation
I've never seen before."

He said marijuana grow houses are a serious problem not only because they
pose a fire and safety hazard, but also because of their association with
organized crime.

"The marijuana grow ops are feeding a sinister cross-border exchange
between organized crime in this country and in the United States, and that
is fuelling the importing of cocaine, heroine, ecstasy and other dangerous
drugs into Ontario," Mr. Algar said.

"They also bring in guns that are the root of escalating violence that we
are seeing on the streets of Toronto and other cities throughout this
province."

Police have said that almost half of the guns used in Toronto are smuggled
across the border from the United States. They have blamed gangs protecting
their turf in the growing drug war for much of the recent gunplay in the city.

"[Marijuana] is a high-priced commodity; people fight to protect it," Staff
Inspector Gary Ellis, head of the city's homicide squad, said in a recent
interview.

The summit brought together a variety of leaders from the private sector,
many of whom agreed on the need for greater sharing of information with
police and governments.

Ian Smith, a representative from the Ontario Real Estate Association, said
he would like to see privacy legislation changed so that police can tell
real-estate agents whether a house used to be a marijuana grow operation --
a practice prohibited under current law.

Mr. Smith said his organization also hopes to draw up new contracts that
would provide home buyers with official avenues of recourse should they
purchase a house with hidden structural and electrical problems from a grow
operation.

Officials from the insurance industry also indicated their desire to see
privacy legislation changed so that they can get more information from
police and fire officials when determining whether a fire or explosion was
the result of growing operation. Many insurers refuse to cover damages that
result directly from illegal drug operations.

Mr. Smith also said his organization would ask real-estate agents to report
to police any clients who appear to be looking for a property to start a
grow house. Typical warning signs include people who pay a deposit in cash,
as well as "individuals who are more interested in a basement of a house
than they are the bedrooms."

Mr. Algar said other ideas discussed include lobbying lawmakers for tougher
penalties for those found guilty of operating a grow house, amending the
Electricity Act to allow for easier enforcement, and improved
communications with the public about what can be done to help police in the
battle against the illegal drug trade.