South Sumas property rep, Chilliwack councillor spar over $53K fine stemming from drug lab

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Contents of a clandestine drug lab found on the property at 44843 South Sumas Road in Chilliwack. (Image Credit: RCMP.)

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The property owner was sent a letter on October 6, 2025, informing him that the property was now considered a controlled substance property as per the city’s Nuisance, Noxious or Offensive Trades, Health and Safety Bylaw 2004, No. 3044.

“There are provisions in this bylaw that grant the city the authority to collect service costs as well as require the building to be remediated and made safe,” said Schipper, who works as the city’s director of development and regulatory enforcement services. “The RCMP and the hazardous materials cleanup personnel were on scene for a total of nine days at the subject property. In this case, the service costs in the amount of $53,000 the city has invoiced the property for only covers a fraction of the actual cost involved in the cleanup of this lab. The actual cost for the dismantling and the cleanup of this lab was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Much of the costs were covered through the RCMP funding sources such as Provincial Tactical Enforcement Priority (PTEP) funding, which contributed several hundred thousand dollars towards the costs associated with the safe dismantling of the clan lab as well as the cost of other policing expenses.”

To date, the no-occupancy order still stands and the buildings involved have not yet been remediated, Schipper said.

Contents of the clandestine drug lab. (Image Credit: RCMP.)

A person representing the property owner, Satnam Ghag, told councillors at Tuesday’s meeting that the South Sumas Road property was purchased by his parents approximately 15 years ago. He said his father used to look after things on the South Sumas property and other properties owned by the Ghag family throughout Chilliwack. He estimated that the combined value of all their property taxes they pay the city is about $70,000 annually. He said his family moved to Chilliwack in 1970 and began expanding mainly into farming operations.

“We never had an unfortunate situation like this one. I think part of the reason was, my mom passed away in June last year,” Ghag said. “She was 94 years old. She couldn’t get around. Dad passed away before that. That’s not an excuse, but that is what happened. She was not mobile. She obviously didn’t do due diligence, didn’t do an inspection. Unfortunately what happened, happened. If the amount can be reduced, we would appreciate it. It’s not something that we have dealt with before.”

This led to an awkward exchange between Councillor Bud Mercer, a retired RCMP member of over three decades, and Ghag.

Chilliwack Councillor Bud Mercer, a retired RCMP member.

“After 35 years in policing, I thought I’d heard it all, but I’ve never heard anybody blame their mother,” Mercer said.

Ghag responded briefly, “I’m not blaming the mother.”

Mercer continued, “I’m a little bit baffled. On what planet do you think it would be OK for the citizens of Chilliwack and their taxpayer money to pay the costs for the cleanup and the fines on your property? It’s a simple business proposal. People pay taxes. We carry on as a city. I can’t think of any place in the world that would want the citizens of their community to pay for something like this that would happen on your property that put Chilliwack on the map in a very negative way. It’s clearly to me simply an abdication of your responsibilities to your property.”

Ghag responded, “All I said was she was simply 94 years old. She didn’t get around. She had a walker. She didn’t do an inspection, so I don’t how your experience as a police officer you can interpret a simple like that to say I’m blaming her. Far from it. I just simply said that my father who went and inspected everything throughout the Chilliwack properties that we own, mom couldn’t do it. She just physically couldn’t do it.”

Mercer also pointed out that the estimated cost of at least $300,000 from Schipper did not account for extra funding provided by the provincial and federal governments.

“The figures that you’re providing us don’t in any way, shape or form represent the true value of this from start to finish, doesn’t include police costs, which the taxpayers of the city pay for,” Mercer said. “It doesn’t include the cost that the federal government and the province have paid for in policing to bring in teams from as far away as Alberta to deal with this, and absolutely none of those costs, which I would suggest are in the order of over one million, are included in anything you’re talking about.”

Schipper confirmed Mercer’s assertion to be correct. “The service costs with respect to the cleanup are only involved from the instant that the search warrant was executed to the time that the RCMP left the property, and those cleanups associated.”

When asked by Councillor Harv Westeringh for a slightly firmer cost estimate, Schipper said the costs were at least $300,000 to $400,000, possibly more.

Ghag pledged to pay the amount if that’s what councillors supported, which they did. They voted unanimously voted to uphold the fine of $53,010.52 as recommended by city staff.

The registered owner of 44843 South Sumas Road is Ravinder Robbie Singh Ghag, listed as a farmer and accountant, according to the Land Title and Survey Authority of British Columbia.