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

• Author: Melvyn Green
• Pages: 510-546



LowHangingFruitandBeyond

CANADASDRUGLAWS

MEETTHECHARTER

Melvyn Green*

A. INTRODUCTION

Sometimesithelpstostartatthebeginning

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 SkapinkertheSupremeCourtgot

itsrstbiteoftheCharterapple

Skapinke r wasaratherunassumingintroductiontothe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language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CourtWhilethejudiciaryhadlongworkedtoreconcilethe

 OntarioCourtofJustice

 SCRSkapinker

 SCc

 EdwardsvCanadaAorneyGeneralACJCPC

 Skapinker,above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dimensionanewyardstickofreconciliationbetweentheindi

vidual and the commun ity and their respe ctive rights a dimension

whichlikethebalanceoftheConstitutionremainstobeinterpreted

andappliedbytheCourt

InretrospectSkapinkerprovedamodesttrailerfortheCharterblockbust

erstofollowNonethelessandagainwiththeadvantageofhindsightit

isapparentthattheSupremeCourt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thebalancingofindividuallegalanddemocratic

interestswiththoseassertedbythestateSecondthedeferencetoPar

liamentthatcharacterizedtheCourtsinterpretationoftheBill of Rights

wastobe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betweenthestateanditscitizensmightwellproveofradicaleect

EachofthesepropositionsfoundpurchaseintheSupremeCourts

responsetorepeatedchallengestotheNarcotic Control Act,thenCanadas

primarycriminallawauthorityforthecontrolofdrugs

BTHEGOVERNINGDRUGCONTROL

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theriskofconstitutionalexposureparticularlyrespect

ingtheexceptionalsearchandseizurepowersauthorizedbytheNCAandafewother

federalstatutesSomeinsightintothefederalgovernmentsCharterreadyplaybookmay

befoundinanarticlebyMichaelDambrotthenaseniorcounselwiththeDepartment

ofJusticeSectionoftheCanadian Charter of Rights and FreedomsCriminal

ReportsdTheauthornowahighlyregardedOntarioSuperiorCourtJustice

conductedaverythoroughreviewoftherelevantpreChartercommonlawand

MG

ifselectivedismantlingoftheNCArevealstheblueprintformuchofits

subsequentCharterjurisprudenceintheareaofcriminallaw

Althoughreliantongeneralprinciples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 Actandthussubjecttothesamearrayoflegislated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including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untilthatthetwostatuteswereeectivelymergedasthe

Controlled Drugs and Substances Actwhichasintermientlyamended

remainsCanadasprevailingdrugcontrolregime

Evenbefore t he Charterc ourts frequently characteriz ed the search

powersauthorizedbysectionoftheNarcotic Control Actasextraordin

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hundreddrugenforcementocersatthetimethelawfulscope

ofwarrantlessdrugsearchesextendedtodwellinghousesaswellOn

AmericanauthoritiesHealsoservedasFederalcounselonmanyofthegerminal

casesinwhichtheSupremeCourtconsideredtheconstitutionalproprietyofvari

ousprovisionsoftheNCAAshecautiouslyconcludedhisarticleTheonly

thingthatcanbesaidwithcertaintyaboutsisthatitwillrequirecourtsin

Canadaforthersttimetodealextensivelywiththelawfullimitsofthepowers

ofsearchandseizure

 RSCcFasamended

 SCc

 See R v NobleOJNoatparaCANoble

 WritsofassistanceweremandatorilygrantedtonamedocersbytheExchequer

CourtlateritssuccessorFederalCourtuponapplicationbytheAorneyGeneral

ofCanadaSeeNobleibid atparaandatparasMartinJA

Inessencethewritisaministerialorexecutiveauthorityorcommissionto

theholdertoexercisewithoutwarrantstatutorypowersofsearchThusthe

writmerelyidentiesthosepersonsentitledtoexercisestatutorypowersof

searchwithoutawarrant

ThefactthatthewritisgrantedbytheFederalCourtinevitablytendsto

givethewritanauraofjudicialauthorizationwhichismisleadingsincethe

courthasnodiscretionwithrespecttoitsgranting