Police in Cape Breton, with the help of a provincial investigator from Halifax, will move to close down 26 suspected drug houses over the next few weeks, using the provincial Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act.

The act gives police the right to evict people from their homes if it can be shown they regularly use their homes for illegal activity to the detriment of the neighbourhood. Police do not have to prove their cases in court.

So far, four people have been evicted from homes in Cape Breton under the provincial legislation.

Fred Sanford, head of the safer communities and neighbourhoods investigative unit, said it takes more than just a few complaints to get people evicted.

"By that, I mean drug activity, sale of alcohol, prostitution or gambling-related offences. And the more important part for us to prove is that the surrounding neighborhood is adversely affected, and by that I mean the safety and security of any person in that community is in jeopardy," Sanford said Tuesday.
 
"We have a number of complaints here that we are actively investigating, in the area of six, I believe. We conduct a fairly thorough investigation to satisfy any action that we take, so a number of investigations are still ongoing."

Brian Howe, a professor at Cape Breton University in Sydney, an expert in public policy and human rights, said that ignoring the basic principle of Canadian law — innocent until proven guilty — is a dangerous precedent.

"Just on the basis of police monitoring and citizen complaint — where perhaps there is some evidence, but perhaps it is dubious — it's kind of suspicious from the point of view of human rights," he said.

But one senior citizen, who was afraid to be identified because he lives next door to a drug dealer, wondered who is protecting his rights.

"You find a lot of disturbance, traffic is way up. The odd time, you find kids hanging around and it's all hours — from the wee hours of the morning, three, four o'clock. It's a little unbearable at times," he said of his neighbour.

He hopes the house next to him is on the list of 26 complaints now being investigated. Police expect to shut down several more houses in the next few weeks.

Last week the Cape Breton Regional Police raided homes in Sydney Mines, Whitney Pier and Sydney looking for illegal drugs in an effort to clean up neighborhoods. A total of $15,000 in drugs and cash were seized from several residences.

The drugs included crack cocaine, several narcotics and prescription medications such as OxyContin and methadone; 21 charges were to be laid against three women and five men.

The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, made law last April, states that it "improves community safety by targeting and, if necessary, shutting down residential and commercial buildings and land that are regularly used for illegal activities such as producing, selling or using illegal drugs, prostitution, illegal gaming, the unlawful sale and consumption of alcohol."