Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis has teamed up with Toronto City Councillor, Michael Del Grande, to go on what has been labelled "pot patrols". The politicians, both of whom represent Scarborough constituencies, have been going door to door in their area, talking to whoever answers the door and trying to, pardon the pun, sniff out any marijuana grow-ops that might found within their neighbourhood.
Grow-ops have been proliferating in certain areas of Toronto, particularly in Scarborough. according to Toronto police, this is due in part to the success that police have been having in York Region. and these two politicians decided that they would do something about it. On one occasion while visiting a property Karygiannis became suspicious of a man who said that he was fixing his garage door; the Liberal MP thought that he was trying to tap into a hydro source. Karygiannis blocked the man’s van with his car and called police; the man and an associate were later arrested.
It should come as no surprise that the police don’t like what the two politicians are doing even though they acknowledge that they lack the resources to actively seek out grow-ops. The grow operations are only discovered incidental to other occurrences such as break and enters or fires. Superintendent Tony Warr of 42 Division described what Karygiannis and Del Grande are doing as "almost vigilantism". Well, "almost" doesn’t cut; it either is or it isn’t, and politicians going door to door is hardly taking the law into their own hands.
The view of the police is supported by an unlikely source; the police service’s least favourite newspaper, the Toronto Star. The Star opposed what the Karygiannis and Del Grande are doing editorially.
It’s no secret that in this day and age, politicians are often considered to be the dregs of society. If being a politician was a serious criminal offence that led to jail, politicians would be found just a little above child molesters and way below marijuana entrepreneurs in the prison pecking order. What is strange about these guys is that they are actually going out there doing something for their respective communities.
Karygiannis is a Liberal backbencher. Backbenchers were those who Pierre Trudeau said were nobodies when they were 50 yards away from Parliament Hill. after almost 12 years of Chrétien/Martin rule, backbenchers are now nobodies even while they are sitting in the House of Commons. Karygiannis could have been content to have an easy life; to simply coast along, yelling "aye" when he’s told to say "aye" and "nay" when he’s told to say "nay". Instead he is walking around his constituency attempting to root out an illegal activity in a way that the police cannot, even if they had the resources.
You would think that caring about one’s community would be a minimum requirement for anyone who seeks a seat on a local council. But we know that that’s not true. Too many councillors have not only higher political objectives but have more concern with global warming, nuclear weapons and trees than they do with the immediate local concerns of their constituents. Local problems of their constituents take a back seat to their political ideology. From his first appearance on the city hall scene, Michael Del Grande has shown a genuine interest in his ward, especially about those issues that involve crime, which, rightly or wrongly, is perceived to be of epidemic in the north east end of the city.
What Karygiannis and Del Grande are doing might be "almost vigilantism" but they should be commended for what they are doing. and while the police should not be encouraging such actions, neither should they be trying to dissuade the pair from continuing to canvas their neighbourhoods, regardless of the fact that there is an element of danger to what they are doing. We would all be better off if more politicians took an interest in their wards or ridings that Karygiannis and Del Grande are taking.
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