WHEREAS illegal marijuana grow operations are an ongoing problem in British Columbia and increasingly in rural areas posing substantial public safety and social risks to neighbouring properties, communities, and society at large; AND WHEREAS regional districts have been requested to assist the RCMP in any way possible to combat the effects of grow operations and other illegal drug manufacturing properties: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of British Columbia Municipalities work with the provincial government, the RCMP and regional districts to develop the necessary strategies and tools that will enable regional districts to assist in the elimination of illegal marijuana grow-ops and other drug manufacturing operations in rural areas and to ensure that environmental and safety concerns left in the aftermath of such operations are addressed.
Ministry of Public Safety Solicitor General The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General is working with police, local governments and other agencies to develop solutions to address the serious problem of illegal drug production in both rural and urban areas. The Province has implemented a number of strategies to combat marijuana grow ops. The Civil Forfeiture Act gives government the ability to target the financial base of criminal activity by using civil court orders to recover money and assets acquired through or used in unlawful activities, including marijuana grow ops. Money recovered under the Act is used to compensate victims of crime and fund crime prevention programs. Police have successfully used the Civil Forfeiture Act to forfeit grow-ops money and assets to the province. The Province supports the RCMPs Coordinated Marijuana Enforcement Team CMET to assist in the coordination of intelligence on marijuana grow-ops and related criminal activity across policing jurisdictions. In addition, we continue to support the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit CFSEU which has offices in Kelowna and Prince George. Amendments to the provincial Safety Standards Act SSA in 2006 permit local governments to obtain residential power consumption information from BC Hydro and power authorities for those residences with higher than average power consumption. A number of local governments have used this authority to combat grow operations through electrical safety inspections and the use of safety orders under the SSA. Some jurisdictions have faced legal challenges to these inspections. PSSG will continue to work together with local governments, the Ministry of Community, Sport, and Cultural Development, and police to apply the SSA and to explore options for regional districts, which have limited regulatory authority compared to municipalities.
RCMP The RCMP in British Columbia fully supports the resolution and future joint efforts with government to realize enhancements to public safety. Programs such as the Electrical Fire and Safety Inspection Teams EFSI, some of which are already in existence within municipalities in the Lower Mainland, and provide electrical fire safety inspections of grow-ops are invaluable both from public safety and officer safety aspects.