Yellowknife (Jun 02/06) - A Yellowknife MLA is expected to call today for new laws that would make it easier for justice officials to shut down crack houses.

Robert Hawkins, whose Yellowknife Centre riding has several reputed drug dens, wants to see the government move forward on legislation that would make it possible to close the houses without going through the time-consuming process of pressing criminal charges.

Yellowknife MLA Robert Hawkins is calling for new laws to make it easier for justice officials to close down crack houses.BYLINE: by Northern News Services - Andrew Raven/NNSL photo

"This would be much simpler," Hawkins said Wednesday afternoon. "We could do something in a matter of days instead of years and months."

His model is based on so-called "Safe Communities" laws already in place in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

They allow civilian officials to investigate confidential complaints of drug-dealing.

If there is enough evidence to support the allegations, the provincial employees can seek a civil court order evicting drug dealers from their homes or apartments.

"Neighbours sometimes become the victims... of the legal process," said Hawkins. "It can be an endurance test."

The standard of proof in civil courts is much lower than that of criminal courts. The laws, though, still allow police to press charges. The first-term MLA believes the laws are a practical answer to the crack-cocaine epidemic sweeping Yellowknife, where arrests for the drug quadrupled between 2001 and 2004, the last year statistics are available.

Hawkins told Yellowknifer he would present the plan today in the Legislative Assembly, though he conceded it would likely be years before any law is ready.

The idea has support from Justice Minister Brendan Bell, who said this week his department is "always looking for vehicles that improve public safety."

The Manitoba and Saskatchewan laws have been examined by justice officials, but the department is still in the early stages of its review and no bills are on the immediate horizon, he said.

Critics in the Prairies have complained the laws are an end-around the criminal justice system and people face the potential of being evicted from their homes on scant allegations.

But Hawkins said he was confident the rights of homeowners and renters would not be trampled.

"There needs to be evidence. It's not simply: 'My neighbour is dealing crack, kick him out'."

The laws, though, "certainly put the neighbourhood first," he said.