Catch us live on BlogTalkRadio every



Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm P.S.T.




Saturday, March 12, 2011

Canada - New law tames rowdy club crowd

OFF THE WIRE
James Foster
 timestranscript.canadaeast.com
The closure of the Night Owl after-hours club marks the first time in New Brunswick that the new Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act has been used to win a court-ordered shut-down, but the legislation has also been used to close five properties where drug activity was taking place, without investigators ever having to step into a courtroom.
Click to Enlarge
Frank Kingston, team leader for the eastern N.B. Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods team, slaps a court order on the main entrance of the Night Owl after-hours club on Mountain Road yesterday.
The SCAN Act holds property owners responsible for habitual illegal activities that occur on their premises. Using the act, SCAN teams can gather evidence which they then use to apply to a court for an order to stop anything that is illegal or a threat to public safety.
The court can even order a building closed, which is what Mr. Justice Jean-Paul Ouellette of the Court of Queen's Bench civil division did in the case of the Night Owl at 1212 Mountain Rd., which is an after-hours club that operated on weekends from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
That's where the SCAN team, with help from the Codiac Regional RCMP's street-crimes unit, found evidence of sex acts in the parking lot, underage drinking, unlicensed sale of booze, alcohol sales to minors, parking-lot brawls and lots of late-night noise, according to investigators.
"The act helps target and shut down buildings and land that are routinely used for specified activities," explains Frank Kingston, SCAN team leader for eastern New Brunswick, minutes before posting yet another closure order on Night Owl's main entrance yesterday - his previously posted court orders having mysteriously been torn off the doors.
While the Night Owl case marks the first such court order issued under the legislation, the act also allows investigators to first use a more informal route for tackling nuisance premises. The informal approach has already been successful in shutting down properties suspected of being the scene of drug-related activities in Saint John, Tracadie-Sheila, Rivière-Portage, Bathurst and Sackville. The team has also issued approximately 30 warning letters to different property owners and users.
Similar legislation is used in six other provinces to tackle issues that arise on private property that make life hell for other members of the neighbourhood, such as drug production or use, prostitution, bootlegging, after-hours clubs, organized crime activities, gang activity, illegal firearms and child-sex crimes. The act can also be used to force the removal of bunker-like reinforcements from buildings, popular in some jurisdictions among outlaw biker clubs and street gangs.
The Night Owl, the operator of which couldn't be reached yesterday, opened last summer as an unlicensed place for folks to go after the bars close. Since it had no liquor licence, it wasn't forced by law to close at the same hours as bars. From the start, however, complaints started pouring in of unruly behaviour at the club, Kingston says.
Under the SCAN Act, anyone can file a complaint by dialing 1-877-826-2122 or by e-mailing the team at SCAN@gnb.ca.While you must use your name to complain, it will be kept confidential and you will never need to testify in court.
A complaint is needed to start an investigation. In the Night Owl case, after receiving a complaint, the SCAN team - with the help of Codiac Mounties - gathered their evidence and tried to resolve the issue via the informal route.
"The results were not positive," Kingston says.
So off to court they went. The act allows a judge to shut down the premises for up to 90 days. In this case, the judge chose to close the premises for 45 days, until April 16. And after that?
"If problems continue, we will commence another investigation and if a complaint is substantiated we would be back in front of a court, if need be," Kingston says.
Some view the legislation as urging citizens to rat out their neighbours, while those subjected to late-night yelling, brawling and tire-squealing welcome the new act without reservation. Some, such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, fear the law could be abused by someone who doesn't like someone to fire off frivolous complaints.
As well, says Graeme Norton, the CCLA's director of public safety, since the complainant's identity is never revealed, as an accused you can never cross-examine that person, which affects an accused person's ability to challenge any evidence against them. And such court orders come from the civil courts, which decide cases "on the balance of probabilities," whereas criminal courts abide by the higher standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt."
"It's a serious matter. The interests at stake can be very high," Norton says, pointing to the potential of someone being evicted from their home.
Norton knows of no cases where such laws have been abused by the authorities or a vindictive complainant, but cites the potential of that happening in the future as a matter worthy of a more substantial debate. He understands the frustrations of citizens dealing with noisy, illegal operations going on at all hours of the night outside their bedroom windows. However, there are other options available for dealing with it, he contends.
Kingston says nothing happens to the subject of a complaint unless there is hard evidence of habitual illegal activities.
"If a person is falsely accused, if no evidence is found to support it, the investigation is concluded at that point."