Judge shutters Saskatoon confectionary due to overdoses, police calls

This store in Saskatoon's Pleasant Hill neighborhood is usually open seven days a week. It's even called seven days, but it's been shuttered until the end of December due to safety concerns. Saskatoon police say they responded to 95 calls at the property just this year. 38 of those calls involved drug overdoses, so a judge ordered the store to close for 90 days. The judge calls it a cooling off period so the store owner can rethink his operation. The closure was made under provisions in Saskatchewan's Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, or SCAN. That's a specialised enforcement unit that investigates problem properties. But the owner says he can't control the people who gather at his store. He's tried putting up a fence and hiring a security guard. He says nothing works. Even police, I can say police cannot help because you say police have no rights. They just come, take them out, they come back. That's not right. If you saw him, give him a ticket, punish him. Call us when you see a problem, call us. The judge's decision suggests Akhtar might be involved in the illegal drug trade, but he strongly denies this. And the judge admits there's no actual evidence. Yet Akhtar has not only lost his business for three months, he's lost his home. He moved here from Pakistan nearly 20 years ago and was living in a suite above the store. Still, he's viewing the closure as a blessing. Last 15 years, I'm doing 16 hours a day from 6 to 11 o'clock alone. Can you believe me? No holidays, seven days. And with these people, you can stay 24 hours, because how much they give you a headache, how much they give you a hard time, unbelievable. Akhtar is living with friends while his property remains off-limits, but he spends his days watching over his store. Saskatchewan's Ministry of Community Safety says closures under scan are not taken lightly. Phil Tank, CBC News, Saskatoon.