Whitehorse man tells court he and his daughter have 'nowhere to go' if evicted under SCAN Act
A Whitehorse man testified in Yukon Supreme Court on Wednesday that he would fall on hard times if he were to be evicted from his home because of alleged "drug activity."
"We don't have nowhere to go," said Henry Johnson, a First Nations man who lives with one of his daughters who suffers from seizures.
"I want to see a change for the better, for everybody that's involved."
The territory has been trying under the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods ("SCAN") Act to temporarily evict people from a house in Whitehorse's Copper Ridge neighbourhood.
In a December petition filed to the Yukon Supreme Court, the territory's director of public safety and investigations alleges that a more than year-long investigation "gave rise to the reasonable inference" that the home on Topaz Crescent "is being habitually used for drug trafficking."
The government states that activity looks like people coming and going from the house, including the alleged "primary drug trafficker."
The SCAN process is separate from the criminal justice system. Police aren't involved, meaning people don't need to fear criminal charges. While the criminal justice system targets individuals, SCAN focuses on properties and uses measures like evictions to disrupt the activities taking place.
The process has been criticized by advocates, who say it disproportionately targets historically marginalized communities.
Crown prosecutor Sarah Bailey is trying to prove two things to a judge — that someone is repeatedly using Johnson's house to store, use and deal drugs, and that that use is affecting community safety and what she calls "quiet enjoyment."
A SCAN investigation is also complaints-driven. In this case, at least two anonymous complaints were filed. The details of those complaints aren't clear and they haven't been filed as affidavits.
Still, Bailey said combined with other forms of evidence — like video surveillance — the complaints help prove there are impacts on the surrounding community.
Johnson's other daughter, Heather, took to the stand to defend her father. She doesn't live at the house but said she visits often and that she hasn't seen him take part in drug activity — neither using or dealing.
"My father is a caring and lovable man, and he doesn't deserve what's going on," she said. "He just wants to be retired and at peace.
"It's his house."
The petition requests that the court grant a community safety order that would require all occupants to leave the house within 14 days, with no one allowed to then enter the property during the following 90 days.
At stake now is whether to follow through with that, or allow Johnson — and perhaps a few trusted others like his other daughter who lives with a medical condition — to stay, while barring others suspected of being involved with drugs for upward of 12 months.
Justice Karen Wenckebach's decision, to be issued Monday, will be based on one of those options.
Between now and then, she must determine whether there's enough evidence of suspected drug activity, and whether claims that neighbourhood safety is at risk are reasonable.
At one point in court on Wednesday, Wenckebach asked whether Johnson, who represented himself, could get people involved with drugs to leave his property.
"Yes, I can," he said.
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