Report to / Rapport au:
Community and Protective Services Committee /
and Council / et au Conseil
28 June 2007 / 28 juin 2007
Submitted by/Soumis par : Jacques
Legendre, Chair / Président,
Crime Prevention Ottawa / Prévention
du Crime Ottawa
Contact Person / Personne ressource : Nancy
Worsfold, Executive Director /Directrice Directrice génerale
(613) 580-2424 x28518,
nancy.worsfold@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2007-CCS-CPS-0015 |
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SUBJECT: |
Safer Communities
and neighbourhoods legislation |
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OBJET : |
législation visant à accroître la sécurité des
collectivités et des quartiers
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REPORT
RECOMMENDATION
That the
Community and Protective Services Committee recommend that Council request that
the Provincial government to adopt “Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods”
legislation in order to address the public disorder and neighbourhood
deterioration caused by problem addresses; and urge other Ontario
municipalities to do the same.
Que le Comité
des services communautaires et de protection recommande au Conseil de demander
au gouvernement provincial d’adopter une loi visant à accroître « la
sécurité des collectivités et des quartiers », dans le but de faire face
au désordre public et à la détérioration des quartiers causés par les adresses
à problème; et de demander avec
insistance aux autres municipalités de l’Ontario d’en faire autant.
Crack houses and bawdy houses and the problems associated with them are
increasingly
becoming an issue facing Ottawa
neighbourhoods. For the past six years
the Manitoba Justice department has been using an innovative legal tool, the
Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (SCAN), to close problem properties
and revitalize neighbourhoods. The Act
uses civil remedies to address the damage done to communities by habitual
criminal activity.
The Board
of Crime Prevention Ottawa has reviewed this issue and on June 18 passed a
resolution requesting Council’s support for similar legislation for Ontario.
Safer
Communities and Neighbourhoods Acts are currently in force in Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and the Yukon.
These acts are intended to allow for enhanced neighbourhood safety and
harmony by targeting the owners and landlords of consistent problem
addresses. Property owners and
businesses are held
accountable for activities occurring on their properties. These acts apply civil law to
counter the impact on neighbourhoods of entrenched drug and prostitution
operations based out of homes and businesses.
In Manitoba the community identified a serious
problem with specific addresses, which was not being dealt with satisfactorily
through traditional criminal law enforcement.
Community associations in Ottawa are actively promoting this type of
legislation.
In Manitoba the province created a public
safety investigation unit (PSIU) in the Department of Justice to enforce the
Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act.
The PSIU, in 2006-07, had a budget of
$820,000. The public is invited
to make anonymous complaints about problem properties including situations such
as: use or sale of liquor contravening the law; use or consumption of drugs;
production or sale of drugs; or prostitution.
The act targets properties used for alcohol, drugs and or
prostitution, not individuals.
After the property is investigated the PSIU must establish that there is
habitual activity that has an adverse affect on a neighbourhood. If there is sufficient evidence, based on a
balance of probabilities, they can issue orders to stop the activity,
close the property or bar individuals from a property. Although court proceedings are possible
almost all cases are resolved informally.
At the same time, the investigations unit works in close partnership
with the police, By Law officers and other officials.
In Manitoba since 2002 this has resulted in:
v
Activities
ceased at 219 drug, prostitution, and solvent abuse operations involving 304
complaints (Only 1 operation required a Court Order)
v
$2
million+ in drugs seized due to investigations
v 93 Police arrests of adults and
youth for Criminal Code offences, drug offences and outstanding Warrants based
on these cases
v Several Marijuana Grow Operations
shut down
v
No
false or malicious complaints
v
Only
five individuals have re-appeared in new investigations after the closing of a
problem property. No problem addresses
have recurred.
Several
communities in Ottawa are facing issues caused by properties associated with
the sale and use of illegal drugs, commonly called crack houses. Although the combined efforts of the Police,
By-Law and Public Health have resulted in the closure of many such properties,
the process is slow and cumbersome. The
advantage of having Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation would be
the increased powers to act on problem properties and quicker resolution of
problem addresses.
A Public Forum, organized by Crime Prevention Ottawa, took
place on May 8 featuring Al Cameron, the head of the Public Safety
Investigation Unit of Manitoba Justice, which enforces the Safer Communities
and Neighbourhoods Act. Approximately
150 people attended this event.
Crime Prevention Ottawa also hosted a stakeholder meeting
to explore Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods legislation in greater
depth. In attendance at this meeting
were representatives from Police, By-Law, Legal, Councillors and their staff
from affected areas, United Way, Ottawa Community Housing Corporation,
Neighbourhood Watch, and the Eastern Ontario Landlord Association. There was strong agreement that this
legislation was needed and would be very useful in addressing the problems
caused in communities by a relatively few addresses. It was also agreed that it would be very helpful if in
implementing this initiative the province would do an appropriate impact
evaluation.
The community mobilization campaign with regards
to this issue will take place within current budget.
Should the province enact Safer Communities and
Neighbourhoods legislation there potentially could be savings for the City as
the legislation offers a more efficient legal tool for the kind of problems
currently addressed by By-Law, Fire, Public Health and Police services through
current problem address task forces.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document
1: Manitoba fact sheet (Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act)
(La Loi visant à accroître la sécurité des
collectivités et des quartiers)
Document 2: Provincial comparison sheet
DISPOSITION
The
recommendation of the Committee will be transmitted to Council on July 11,
2007.