Appendix II: Reasonable Suspicion

• Author: Steve Coughlan/Glen Luther
• Profession: Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University/Associate Professor, College of Law, University of Saskatchewan
• Pages: 403-413

403

APPEN DIX I I

REASONABLE SUSPICION*

Reasonable Suspicion Standard Met

R v Mann, [2004] 3 SCR 59: Shortly before midnight, the police received

a dispatch call describing a break and enter in progress in downtown

Winnipeg. The suspect was described as a twenty-one-year-old Aborig-

inal male, approximately 5’6”, weighing 165 pounds, wearing a black

jacket with white sleeves, and was believed to be “Zachary Parisienne.”

A short while later, the police observed the accused walking away from

the site of the oence. The Court found that the reasonable suspicion

standard was met because the accused closely matched the description

and was only two or three blocks from the crime scene a short time after

the oence. It also stated that the high-crime nature of a neighbourhood

is not itself a basis to detain someone and is relevant only if it shows the

connection of an accused to a particular crime.

R v Chehil, 2013 SCC 49: Reasonable suspicion that the accused was

in possession of narcotics was established. The police checked the pas-

senger manifest for a WestJet f‌light arriving in Halifax looking for par-

ticular characteristics, based upon which they selected the accused’s

bags to be subject to a snier-dog search. The Court noted that many

of the characteristics that were relied upon were individually capable of

innocent explanation but that nonetheless, taken together, were capable

* This appendix deals only with reasonable suspicion in the context of investigative

detentions. There is also caselaw using the reasonable suspicion standard in other

contexts, such as customs stops or approved-screening-device demands.