Community questions government body’s authority to evict

REGINA – Michael Newell willingly admits he smokes pot.

“That (is) because my mother passed away in a house fire and I watched the whole thing and I don’t like depression pills,” he explained.

He “self-medicates,” but vows he’s never trafficked. Two years ago, Newell was charged, he says unfairly with “intent to sell.”

He was still fighting the charge when he received a knock at his door. A man from SCAN – or Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods – told Newell he was being evicted.

On doing surveillance, they had seen 19 people come to his house in three weeks and said they had reason to believe he was a drug dealer.

“You have to look at it as part of the bigger picture of the different initiatives going on,” said Drew Wilby with the Ministry of Justice, “And without a doubt, our crime numbers are now starting to come down.”

But many people question whether that’s the case.

SCAN was created in 2005 as a provincial body to investigate neighbourhood complaints. They have the authority to evict people – even homeowners – if they suspect criminal and drug activity at a residence.

Over the past eight years, SCAN has issued 627 “demands to vacate” across the province, but they don’t lay charges because they’re not police.

“They investigate the property, rather than investigating the individuals,” explained Wilby.

But members of the legal community say the legislation is “problematic.”

“Many people being at a residence, well that’s what we call completely ‘circumstantial evidence.’ They may have been there to visit,” siad Noah Evanchuk, a Regina-based lawyer.

Newell is currently fighting his case at the Court of Queen’s Bench, but Evanchuk points out civil cases are “incredibly expensive” and not everyone can afford to plead their case.

“I should have been charged with possession, but they just want to kick you out. They don’t care about your livelihood,” said Newell who has secured a lawyer from Pro Bono Law in Regina.

Regina’s Anti-Poverty Ministry is concerned it has the potential to be discriminatory as well and say that evicting low-income people from their homes only moves the problem – if there actually is one.

“If it’s the criminal activity that’s the concern, then that’s what needs to be dealt with, not the property issue,” said Peter Gilmer with the Ministry.

He’s also concerned about those who don’t have the means to take the issue to court and are wrongly evicted.