'DO YOU WALK AWAY AND DO NOTHING?'

A draft bylaw to protect tenants from unsafe living conditions is an
example of municipal authorities stepping in where the territorial
government has failed to act, say members of city council -- with
one strong exception.

Meeting at noon Tuesday, council and senior managers discussed a
proposed controlled substances/properties bylaw.

The draft bylaw gives the city authority to ensure former drug
houses, such as marijuana grow operations or illegal chemical labs,
meet health and safety standards before they're rented out to new tenants.

Coun. Jan Stick said she supports the idea of ensuring former drug
houses are safe to live in after they're shut down. However, she is
concerned about the scores of other rental properties in the city
which are currently unsafe to live in.

"My overall concern is that we have these bylaws for illegal
operations but the fact is we have all of these other houses that
are full of mould and bad wiring and they continue to exist and
there's no options for those (tenants) for remediation," Stick said.

"I understand the need for this but what about the others? YTG (the
Yukon government) is the Landlord Tenant Act, they're the ones who
are supposed to be enforcing that."

Coun. Jeanine Myhre said she is also concerned about the lack of
protection for tenants.

She said she doesn't feel the message to tenants that you had to
have had illegal plants in your house to get help is appropriate.

Coun. Florence Roberts said she feels the problem of unsafe living
conditions should be handled by territorial health authorities.

"This is health and safety. The YTG doesn't co-operate," Roberts said.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt responded to council's concerns. He
said the proposed bylaw is designed to ensure the health and safety
of people moving into unsafe living conditions, such as mould,
electrical problems, structural damage and plumbing breakdowns
caused by grow operations.

The territorial government cannot enforce those standards because
the Yukon Landlord and Tenant Act has no safety, maintenance,
occupation nor health regulations as called for in the legislation, he added.

In a series of interviews with the Star last fall, Liberal Leader
Arthur Mitchell, NDP MLA Steve Cardiff, Mayor Bev Buckway, tenants
of several substandard homes and Whitehorse landlord Hans Affolter
called on the government to develop regulations as called for in the
decades-old legislation.

Earlier this month, Community Services Minister Glenn Hart said the
matter is under internal review.

Fiona Charbonneau is the manager of the Department of Community
Services' consumer services branch. She said in an interview this
morning the Landlord and Tenant Act regulations have been the
subject of review by her department and the Department of Health and
Social Services.

"We are currently reviewing the regulatory measures in other
jurisdictions," she said.

Charbonneau said the review is focusing in on matters including
health, safety, occupancy and maintenance standards and how other
areas in Canada regulate and enforce them.

There is no timeline on the review's conclusion, she added.

"This isn't the only thing we're working on."

John Taylor, the city's bylaw services manager, told council the
proposed bylaw is a measure designed to encourage landlords to take
responsibility for their properties.

He said the bylaw would be triggered by the territorial Safer
Communities and Neighbhourhoods Act and RCMP investigations which
would give city inspectors the authority to enter properties used
for drug purposes and ensure they're fit for habitation.

"This bylaw is strictly punitive," Taylor said.

"This legislation says, 'I want to live in this community, I don't
want to walk into Takhini Arena and have people say you're the
reason for my kid's problem.' " Taylor said.

"If there is a grow op, you have an obligation to report it to us or
the police as soon as you find out."

Taylor said fines to be attached to the bylaw, which are proposed to
range between $1,000 and $5,000, are designed to encourage compliance.

"The fines are just there for the people who don't react to that.
The fines are just there for someone who doesn't help, for someone
who doesn't work with us," he said.

Taylor said the bylaw could also be used to protect the city's water
system by giving the city the power to shut off water systems to
houses whose plumbing had been tampered with.

"It could cost us if the water backed up and went into our water mains."

Taylor said the city gets its authority for the bylaw under the
Yukon Municipal Act.

Coun. Doug Graham said he has a problem with the new bylaw and feels
it could leave the city open to possible legal action.

"I disagree with the principle (of the bylaw). Where does this put
us on a legal footing?" he asked.

"Think of the costs that we could be facing here as a city."

Graham said he also can't support a bylaw which could leave
landlords responsible for illegal activities they never took part in.

"What are the ramifications of other people, completely innocent,
because of this? If there are ramifications that can screw innocent
people, that's not a good bylaw," he said.

Coun. Dave Stockdale said he believes that, like city zoning
decisions which sometimes negatively affect neighbouring residents,
the draft bylaw could be in the best interest of the greater community.

"You have to do something. What do you do? Walk away and do nothing?

"They couldn't get Al Capone (the 1920s-'30s Chicago gangster) on
murder or prostitution; they got him on tax evasion," Stockdale said.

"This is another approach. This (bylaw) is in operation in other places."

Administrative services director Robert Fendrick said the bylaw is
also designed to deter criminals from setting up shop in Whitehorse.

"The way things are now, have we deterred any of them from doing
this again? No.

"The incentive is that it's a disincentive."

Shewfelt said he'll direct his officials to look into council's
concerns before council discusses the proposed bylaw again.