The Newfoundland and Labrador government says it is reviewing old legislation aimed at curbing criminal activity and cleaning up neighbourhoods.
The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act — also known as SCAN — was passed in the House of Assembly in 2007, but never brought into force. It would use civil law to issue warnings for home owners, evict residents, and shut down drug houses.
“This legislation was intended to function as a civil tool to address problematic properties. It is designed to complement, not replace, criminal enforcement,” Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer said in an emailed statement.
“Given it has been nearly two decades since the legislation was passed, a comprehensive review of the legislation is underway in the Department of Justice and Public Safety.”
People who live near so-called ‘trap houses’ — havens for crime and drug use — have been writing and calling officials with the province and capital city urging swift action.
But the police, city and province say sometimes their hands are tied.
In several other provinces — such as New Brunswick — SCAN fills the gap.
David Whittingham and Ron Jodrie say they’ve seen SCAN in action in their town of St. Stephen, N.B.
The men said since a private landlord snapped up rental properties during the pandemic, they became hot spots for crime, drug use, and squatting, changing the fabric of the community.
“It became a very, very disturbing factor in the lives of myself and my wife,” Jodrie said in a recent interview.
“Noise all the time. Cars stop and go, a lot of traffic. Ambulance visits, police visits, fire trucks. Constantly concerned about what was going on in the neighbourhood.”
That unrest — coupled with frustration linked to a perceived lack of action by the municipality — motivated a group in the neighourhood to take action. Representatives from SCAN made a presentation to the community in 2021, sparking investigations into some of those problem properties.
Since then, SCAN officers have evicted residents and boarded up multiple properties in the town.
In 2023, a problem property near Whittingham’s bed and breakfast was boarded up, but was later set alight.
“There was somebody living on the porch here for a month, month and a half,” Whittingham said.
“And then somebody else actually started a fire on the outside porch, and it went up in flames in no time.”
The Newfoundland and Labrador act, passed during the Danny Williams era, would allow government to give residents a way to register complaints “and to put an end to illegal activities that adversely affect or harm a neighbourhood,” read a news release from 2007.
Mirrored after SCAN in other provinces, the legislation can target and, if necessary, shut down residential and commercial buildings and land which are habitually used for illegal activities.
Under the legislation, individuals would be able to file complaints if they feel their community or neighbourhood is being adversely affected by activities on or near a property in the area.
An investigation unit would review the complaint and investigate, leading to warning letters or court orders for emergency closure.
“The requirement for obtaining an order is the property must be being used habitually for one of the targeted activities, creating an adverse effect on the community,” the news release said.
Over $230,000 was earmarked in the budget for an investigation unit under the justice department. At the time, the government promised the unit would be operational that fall. Then-justice minister Tom Osborne said they were eyeing expanding the program before it even began.
But that didn’t happen.
According to a 2010 article in the St. John’s Telegram, the act was amended six times before its approval, after social groups raised a number of concerns. At the time, the Newfoundland and Labrador Feminist Coalition called the new law “reactionary and vigilante.”
A few years later, Osborne, then sitting as an Independent MHA, said the shelved legislation may have prevented the death of a man at a known drug house on Tessier Place in downtown St. John’s.
Prior to the man’s death in March 2013, the neighbourhood had been the site of several police operations, and the property was known as being rampant with drugs and prostitution.
“For anyone to stand and suggest that a piece of legislation can prevent a murder or a homicide in this province, in my view, is absolutely ridiculous.” countered then-Tory justice minister Darin King during debate in the legislature.
Steven Gardiner lived in the neighbourhood at the time, and remembers warning that one death was just the start.
“If criminals are allowed to undertake this activity seemingly without any type of opposition from the landlords, from the legislation that governs the the City of St. John’s Act or the Newfoundland Labrador tenants board, then we’re just down here waiting for the next body bag,” Gardiner said in a recent interview with CBC News.
Gardiner’s prediction came true. There was a rash of murders within a one to two kilometre radius in the years that followed.
“Many of the residents are down here running scared. And I think something really needs to happen sooner than later,” he said.
“If there is potential to have this type of response, as you’ve suggested that’s occurring in New Brunswick, I’m all for it.”
Not everyone sees SCAN as a silver bullet.
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association says it has concerns over similar legislation in that province — which, like Newfoundland and Labrador, is on the books but has never been brought into effect.
“It’s just a core concern that people can be displaced and have things happen to them with a really big impact — and it can happen really quickly,” said Meghan McDermott, policy director with the BCCLA.
“It’s based on complaints from within the community. And these tend to be anonymous.”
McDermott understands concerns from residents who may live near a property they believe is being used for criminal activity, but she doesn’t believe SCAN gets the balance right.
What is SCAN legislation? And how could it help shut down trap houses?
She said she is also concerned about cases of mistaken identity, or having law-abiding residents swept up in a SCAN raid if there is more one than one person in a housing unit — all without dealing with the root cause of the problem.
“We think it’s done as a cost-cutting measure, as a way to try to placate public concern about these issues,” she said.
“When really it just means we need to invest better in our existing mechanisms, which are criminal investigations, and target the right individuals and make sure that the punishment fits the crime.”
While Justice Minister Helen Conway Ottenheimer declined an interview on the review of the SCAN legislation, she said in an emailed statement that her department is “working closely with our partners, communities, and police agencies to maintain public safety.”
She pointed to collaboration between the RNC and Newfoundland and Labrador Housing on “how best they can work together under their respective authorities to address the issue of ‘trap houses.'”
Conway Ottenheimer said the review of the legislation will look at intent, enforcement mechanisms and how it interacts with other agencies involved in public safety and community well-being.
“The review process involves a number of components, including legislative analysis, jurisdictional scans, and consultations,” the statement said.
“The department aims to have this work done as soon as possible, but it is important to give any conclusions or potential changes proper consideration to ensure they are evidence-based and legally sound.”
Back in St. Stephen, Whittingham concedes SCAN isn’t a perfect solution. If problematic tenants or squatters are moved out of one area, they will eventually need to take shelter somewhere else.
Whittingham said SCAN helped them, and when the house next to his was ultimately torn down after a fire, it saved his neighbourhood.
“Our neighbourhood or way or life … it went from darkness to light,” Whittingham said.
“A load was lifted off us.”
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