Bill would protect names of people whose suspicions lead to eviction of possible criminals

The New Brunswick government moved Thursday to protect the identities of people who complain about possibly criminal tenants and to allow the targets of such complaints a way to try to avoid eviction.

The Safer Communities and Neighbourhood Act, also known as SCAN, allows public safety officers to investigate and evict people suspected of criminal activity. No criminal charges need to be laid or proven true for the eviction to take place.

An amendment proposed Thursday would allow investigators to submit information to the court without identifying the complainant, said a news release.

Under the SCAN law, citizens can make a complaint if they suspect a resident is producing, selling or using illegal drugs, involved in prostitution, unlawfully selling or consuming alcohol or cannabis, promoting organized crime or is involved in child sexual abuse.

A complaint allows public safety officers, who don't have to be police, to stake out and investigate tenants and businesses. Those officers can then submit what they find to a court to get a community safety order from a judge, which would allow them to shut down a building for three months and evict tenants.

"It only takes people in one residence, who are conducting illegal activities, to undermine the safety of all residents in a neighbourhood," Justice and Public Safety Minister Ted Flemming is quoted as saying in the release.

Another amendment would allow a resident on the verge of eviction because of suspected crimes to provide evidence the community is not negatively affected by their activities.

Similar legislation has been under fire in Whitehorse. In a challenge being heard in the Yukon Supreme Court, advocacy groups say it disproportionately affects people who are already vulnerable by rendering them homeless. 

New Brunswick has come under criticism in the past for its evictions practices. In 2013, a judge overturned two social housing eviction notices, citing a shoddy investigation by the SCAN team.

Legislation 'does not need to exist'

Jael Duarte of the New Brunswick Tenants' Rights Coalition says this legislation does not follow due process and "does not need to exist." She said the criminal courts and the Residential Tenancies Act are already in place, and skipping the criminal process when criminality is suspected is not fair.

"There is a system already. There's police, there's a Crown attorney. There is a process that always guarantees the Charter of Rights."

She said she's worked with people who found themselves evicted without knowing why. These people were not told if a compliant was made against them, and in one instance, a woman lost custody of her children because she had nowhere else to go, Duarte said.

She said there the legislation creates a greater chance of prejudices creeping in when it comes to who is considered an "outsider" in a neighbourhood.

"This act is having consequences for people who are seen as being different," she said.