Angry residents are rallying behind a grassroots movement to quash a provincial bill aimed at helping police shut down properties being used for criminal activity.
The Safer Community and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) Act is a private member’s bill sponsored by Ottawa-Centre’s Liberal MPP Yasir Naqvi.
If passed into law, SCAN would allow cities to appoint an official with the power to investigate residents based on anonymous complaints. The major concern is that it will lead to unwarranted evictions.
Concerned residents and community activists filled the Ottawa Public Library auditorium Thursday night to debate the legitimacy of SCAN.
What began as a panel discussion quickly turned into a heated affair between residents on opposing sides of the issue.
Naqvi, who was the lone defender of the bill on last night’s panel, was verbally assaulted by several community members while trying to leave the meeting early in order to catch a flight.
“Shame on you for trying to socially cleanse our community,” one young woman yelled from the back of the auditorium.
Naqvi defended the act, which is based on similar laws in other provinces, saying the idea for SCAN spawned from the community.
“No one wants to live next to a crack house,” he says. “The purpose is community empowerment, including the vulnerable, to ensure that properties in our neighbourhood are not being used for illegal purposes.”
However, opponents of the act say it is unconstitutional because it goes against principles guaranteed in Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.
“You have a situation where a lot of people are already precariously housed, and if you make evictions easier than there is a potential to see homelessness rise,” says Yutaka Dirks, outreach coordinator for the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. The advocacy centre aims to help improve housing situations for residence of the province with low incomes.
Cheri Dinovo, the NDP MPP for Parkdale – High Park in Toronto, says SCAN is a class-based legislation that will disproportionately impact the poor.
Dinovo, who believes housing is a human right, says Canadians are living through a national disaster of homelessness and SCAN would only make things worse.
Dinovo says the bill is a piece of snitch legislation that could upset the due process of individuals being forced out of their homes.
“To me building community is not spying or ratting on your neighbours anonymously,” she says.
“Our whole system of law is based on being able to defend yourself, face your accuser, and present your evidence with a lawyer. This is the kind of legislation that could prevent that from happening.”
The event was organized by People Against SCAN, a local activist group opposed to the implementation of the bill.
Keith Rose, a member of People Against SCAN, helped moderate the debate. He says the plan is to continue raising awareness about the bill, and to generate dialogue between community members in order to find a solution.