As the Maritimes grapples with ongoing copper wire theft, an independent senator says provincial regulations are needed to combat the problem. Paula Simons said there needs to be tighter regulations on the resale of stolen copper wire to curb the rash of thefts. “It’s up to provinces to regulate that the shops who sell this material are regulated,” she told CTV News Atlantic’s Jesse Thomas. “If we’re not regulating the resale, that’s a problem.” Earlier this year, the Senate released a report that noted copper wire thefts can leave people with no internet or phone services. “People see it as a relatively easy, victimless crime,” Simons said. “Anywhere where people are working with copper, there is a vulnerability.” Between July 28 and Aug. 4, the Nova Scotia RCMP said they responded to copper wire thefts in the Colchester, Cumberland and Hants counties, including two incidents in Debert and Masstown that caused phone and internet outages. “Some of them are crimes of opportunity, some of them requires skill and technique,” Simons said. “When you’re stripping wire from power applications, you run the risk of electrocuting yourself.” Simons noted she doesn’t want to tell provinces what to do, but she hopes they can find ways to curb the theft of copper wire theft by making sure stolen items don’t cross borders for resale. “It’s going to take work by police,” she said. “We need more law enforcement of this.”
