Dear Editor,

Like responsible citizens, as we all try to be, Lydia and I recently applied to rent a 2.5-metre x 2.5-metre Community Garden plot from Langley City so we can get our hands dirty and eat some good produce this summer.

The plot is one of 16 located close to our townhouse, just off 200th Street and on site of Nicomekl Elementary School.

We were first on a waiting list, and only two plots became available. When we were awarded one, we were told that a City bylaw requires that both of us undergo criminal records checks, at City expense, covering the past five years – quite understandable, with all the pedophiles and psycopaths and other maniacs around.

So we went to the Community Police Office and filled out the forms, stating our addresses during the past five years: Langley (almost two years), White Rock (just over a year), and before that, Avondale, Arizona, U.S.A. (almost six years).

Then we heard that the RCMP could not complete the criminal record checks, because they were unable to get information from Arizona. City staff called us and asked that we phone the RCMP about it.

The RCMP told us they could not do it, and that we had to call the City of Avondale police department, where we were told that police departments in Arizona do not provide criminal record checks, but that they are done by the State of Arizona Department of Public Safety, and our call was actually transferred there.

Great was our surprise a few minutes later when we were told that they also cannot not provide what we needed. Criminal records are not public records in Arizona (and Utah, and perhaps a number of other of the 50 United States.)

So we were left with politely asking the Langley RCMP to call the Federal Bureau of Investigation because we really want this vegetable garden plot.

Jacob and Lydia de Raadt, Langley