The Stop

• Author: Karen Jokinen/Peter Keen
• Pages: 233-251

233

The Stop

14

I. Introduction ............................................. 234

II. Police Powers to Stop ..................................... 234

A. Statutory Authority to Stop for Trac Safety Purposes ...... 235

B. The Authority to Stop on Private Property ................ 237

C. The Power to Enter Private Property and Knock

On Searches ....................................... 240

D. Powers to Stop for Non-Trac Safety Purposes

(Common Law) ..................................... 243

E. Error of Law: Analysis of Trac Safety Stops as Investigative

Detentions ......................................... 244

III. Investigating Crashes ...................................... 244

IV. Dual-Purpose Stops ....................................... 246

A. Racial Proling ...................................... 248

B. Bill C-46 Did Not Create Any New Police Powers to Stop .... 250

V. Conclusion .............................................. 251

© 2023 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.

234Impaired Driving and Other Criminal Code Driving Oences

I. Introduction

Impaired driving investigations often begin in one of three ways: a motor vehicle acci-

dent gets the attention of the police, the police stop a vehicle, or the police discover

an impaired or passed-out person sitting in the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle. This

chapter examines police powers to stop and the Charter implications at play.

The law relating to police powers to stop a motor vehicle are well established. The

police may stop a motor vehicle at any time, for any reason, without the need for any

suspicion of criminal activity, provided this is done for a valid trac safety purpose.

Valid trac safety purposes include checking driver sobriety, ensuring the driver has

a proper driver’s licence and vehicle documentation, and determining the mechanical

condition of the vehicle. The police cannot use their trac safety powers when the

only real purpose for the stop is to conduct a non-trac criminal investigation. They

may use these powers where they have a dual purpose, provided one of the purposes

relates to trac safety.

A police stop of a vehicle amounts to a detention within the meaning of sections 9

and 10 of the Charter, but there are limitations on Charter rights in the brief screening

period following a stop. This chapter reviews the dierent sources of police powers to

stop a vehicle on the highway and the case law relating to powers to stop a vehicle on

private property. The chapter then reviews the law relating to detention in the context

of trac accidents where the police have not stopped the vehicle.

II. Police Powers to Stop

Although the police and prosecutors may rely on statutory powers to justify a vehicle

stop, the common law authorized vehicle stops before the statutory powers came into

existence.

At common law, the police have the power to randomly stop vehicles for trac

safety reasons, including to check for driver sobriety. This power was firmly estab-

lished by the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Dedman v The Queen.1 Random

stops are by definition arbitrary, based on no grounds. The common law also autho-

rizes vehicle stops where ocers suspect a provincial or criminal oence relating to

trac safety.2 The Supreme Court in R v Wilson3 noted that where the law permits a

random stop, it must also permit a stop where the ocer can articulate a reasonable

purpose in doing so. Such a stop would not be arbitrary.

In Dedman, the police were conducting Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere

(RIDE) checks, which involved stopping vehicles randomly to check driver sobriety.

1 Dedman v The Queen, [1985] 2 SCR 2, 1985 CanLII 41.

2 See e.g. R v Wilson, [1990] 1 SCR 1291, 1990 CanLII 109 at paras 2, 3, 13; R v Ali, 2016 ABCA

261 at para 7; R v Adams, 2011 NLCA 3 at para 19.

3 R v Wilson, ibid; R v Adams, ibid.

© 2023 Emond Montgomery Publications. All Rights Reserved.