Public safety minister says new law targets gang-run drug and crime houses
VICTORIA — The British Columbia government has put a target on neighbourhood properties linked to guns, gangs and drugs activities, the public safety minister said Thursday.
Mike Farnworth introduced legislation that empowers people to report alleged illegal activities in their neighbourhoods and gives authorities more clout to shut down those sites.
He said the Community Safety Act, if passed, would allow people to submit confidential complaints about alleged activities occurring at properties to a government unit that would investigate and enforce the act.
Farnworth said the unit would collaborate with neighbours and take escalating steps that would include ending tenancy agreements and closing the property for up to 90 days.