CITY APPROVES POT SNITCH LINE

Got a beef against your neighbour? A new marijuana grow operation
bylaw will allow you to snitch on him or her anonymously, which could
result in an embarrassing raid on their home by fire and electrical
safety inspectors, as well as the RCMP.

However, the city's fire department insists it will check out the
anonymous tips before conducting any inspections.

The city's fire safety inspection program was implemented in 2007 as
a pilot program. It allows the city and police to conduct a search
without a search warrant, based on excessive hydro use, which is
often a sign of a grow op.

But high electrical consumption can also be an indication of a swimming pool.

The city had to suspend the bylaw when a similar bylaw in Surrey was
struck down as unconstitutional. The city has since refined the bylaw
and now wants to expand it.

Under the new regulations, an inspection can be triggered by
anonymous tips -- not just high hydro use.

Coun. Derek Dang, who chairs the city's community safety committee,
said that raises the spectre of a "Hatfield and McCoy" feud in which
one neighbour could snitch on his foe.

But before a full-on inspection takes place, authorities would do a
visual inspection outside the home to look for telltale signs of a
marijuana grow operation before issuing a 24-hour inspection notice,
deputy fire chief Kim Howell said. Police will not automatically
participate in the inspection, but will be nearby and in contact with
inspectors via radio.

Several other municipalities have similar bylaws, Howell said, and
fears what would happen if there is a legal vacuum created here.

"If Richmond was not to have a program and the other six
municipalities maintain a program, where do you think they're going
to come?" she said. The committee approved the program.