Books and Journals The Law Society of Upper Canada Special Lectures 2017 Irwin Books Low Hanging Fruit . . . and Beyond: Canada's Drug Laws Meet the Charter

Low Hanging Fruit . . . and Beyond: Canada's Drug Laws Meet the Charter

Document Cited Authorities (101) Cited in Related

LowHangingFruitandBeyond
CA NA DASDRUGL AWS
MEETTHECHART ER
Melvyn Green*
A. INTRODUCTION
Sometimesithelpstostartatthebegin ning
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedomsjoined theBritish-North
America Act as the formal Con stitution of Canada in Twoyears
laterinLaw Society of Upper Canada v Ska pinkertheSupremeCourtgot
itsrstbiteoftheCharterapple
Skapinke r wasaratherunassumingintroductiontot helegalrevolu
tionwroughtbytheCharteramobilityrightsbasedandultimatelyfu
tilechallengetoanOntarioLawSocietyrulethatrestrictedmembership
toCanadiancitizensTheSupremeCourthoweverwasatpainstomake
clearthatanewmethodologyreplacedthatwhichintheviewofmany
reectedan overlyreticentapplicationof thepredecessor Canadian Bill
of Right sUnliketheBill of RightstheCharterwasnotamerestatutebut
ratherpartofthe supremelawofCanadaAdoptingthelang uageof
thePrivyCouncilinthecelebratedPersonsCase
theSupremeCourt
recognized theCharterasalivingtree thatimposedaconstitutional
role ontheC ourtW hilet hejudic iaryh adlongwo rkedtore concil ethe
 OntarioCourtofJust ice
 SCRSkapinker
 SCc
 EdwardsvCanadaAorneyG eneralACJCPC
 Sk apin ker,a bovenoteatpara
Low Hanging Fruit . . . and Beyond
institutionsofgovernmentundertheB.N.A. Act,” EsteyJspeakingfor
theCourtmadeclearthattheCharterbroughtwithit
anewdi mensionanewyardstic kofreconciliation betweentheindi
vidual and the commun ity and their respe ctive rights a dimension
whichli kethebalanceof theConstitution remainstobe interpreted
andappliedbytheCourt
InretrospectSkapinkerproved amodes ttrai lerfor theCharterblo ckbus t
erstofollowNonethelessandagainwiththeadvantageofhindsightit
isapparent thattheSupremeCour twasintenton makinga fewintro
ductorypoints Firstthe refereeingofthe divisionof powersbetween
federal and provincial governments that occupied the Cour tsconsti
tutionalagenda sinceitsestablishment inwasnowsupplemented
byafreshassignmentt hebalancingofindividuallegalanddemocratic
interestswith thoseassertedby thestateSecondthe deferencetoPar
liamentthatch aracterizedtheCourtsinterpretationof theBill of Rights
wastob ereplacedbya constitutionallyinformed analysisintendedto
secure protected individual rights f rom claims of state privilege and
legalconventionAndthirdiflessdirectlywastheCourtsveiledfore
castifnotwarningthatrecalibrationofthelegalandpoliticalrelation
shipbetwe enthestateanditscit izensmightwellpr oveofradicaleect
Eachoft hesepropositionsfound purchaseint heSupremeCourts
responsetorepeatedchallengestotheNarcotic Control Act, then Ca nad as
primarycri minallawauthorityforthecontrolofdrugs
B T HE GOVE RN INGD RUGCON TR OL
REGIME
The Narcotic Control ActNCAconsistedof onlyaboutten substantive
provisionsDespiteitsbrevityitwasnotoriouslyvulnerabletoconstitu
tionalchallengeashadbeenwidelypredictedandwasquicklydemon
stratedin lowercourtsIndeeda reviewofthe SupremeCourtsearly
 Ibid atpara
 Ibid
 RSCcNasamendedNCA
 Oawawashardlynaïveastot heriskofconstitutionalexp osureparticularlyrespec t
ingtheexception alsearchandseizurepowersaut horizedbytheNCAandafewother
federalstatutesSomei nsightintothefederalgovernment sCharterreadyplaybookmay
befoundinanar ticlebyMichaelDambrotthenasen iorcounselwiththeDepart ment
ofJusticeSectionoft heCanadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsCriminal
ReportsdTheauthornowahighlyregardedOnta rioSuperiorCourtJustice
conductedaverythoroughreviewofthereleva ntpreChartercommonlawand
MG
ifselectivedismantl ingoftheNCArevealstheblueprintformuchofits
subsequentCharterjurisprudenceintheareaofcrim inallaw
Althoughreliantongeneralpri nciplesofsubstantiveandadjectival
lawtheNarcotic Control Act alsocontained itsown complementaryor
alternative code of investigatoryprocedural and evidentiary powers
Inuponthe adventofthe Charterallopiatecocaine andcanna
bisrelateddrugsderivativesandpreparationswerelistedinthesingle
schedule to the Act andt hussubjec ttothesam earrayofleg islatedpow
ersandpenaltiesTobeclearthebroadpolicepowersanddenunciatory
sentencesprescribedforheroinand cocaineappliedwith equalvigour
totheenforcementofoencesinvolvingcannabisi ncludingmarijuana
Other popular psychoactive drugs including LSD and meth ampheta
mineand mosttherapeuticssubject toprescriptionwere governedby
aparallelifsomewhat lesspunitive statutetheFood and Drugs Act. It
wasnotu ntilthatthe twostatuteswere eectivelymergedasthe
Controlled Drugs and Substances Actwh ichas intermientlyamen ded
remainsCanadasprevailingdrugcontrolregime
Evenbefore t he Charterc ourts frequently characteriz ed the search
powersauthori zedbysection oftheNarcotic Control Actasextraordi n
aryApeaceocercouldenteranyplaceotherthanadwellinghouseif
heorshereasonablybelieveditcontainedaprohibiteddrugNowar
rantwas required Ifarmed with writof assistanceas werewell more
thanahu ndreddrugenforcementocersatthet imethelawfulscope
ofwarra ntlessdrug searchesextended todwelling housesas wellOn
Americanauthorit iesHealsoservedasFederalcounse lonmanyofthegerminal
casesinwhicht heSupremeCourtconsideredtheconst itutionalproprietyofvari
ousprovisionsoftheNC AAshecautiouslyconcludedhisarticleTheonly
thingthatc anbesaidwithcertaint yaboutsisthatitwillrequirecou rtsin
Canadafortherstt imetodealextensivelywiththelawfu llimitsofthepowers
ofsearchandsei zure
 RSCcFasamended
 SCc
 See R v NobleOJNoatparaCANoble
 Writsofassistancewer emandatorilygrantedtonamedocersbyt heExchequer
CourtlateritssuccessorFedera lCourtuponapplicationbytheAorneyGeneral
ofCanadaSeeNobleibid atparaandatparas MartinJA
Inessencethewr itisaministerialorexecut iveauthorityorcommissionto
theholdertoexercisewit houtwarrantstatutorypowersofsearchT husthe
writmerelyidentiest hosepersonsentitledtoexercis estatutorypowersof
searchwithoutawar rant
Thefactthatthew ritisgrantedbytheFederalCourtine vitablytendsto
givethewritanauraofj udicialauthorizationwhichism isleadingsincethe
courthasnodisc retionwithrespecttoitsgra nting

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