A Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge has ruled that part of the Canada Postal Society Act violates the Bill of Rights and Freedoms. (Paul Daly / CBC)
The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador has ruled that the law that allowed Canada Post to search for a package containing cocaine violates the letter’s right to privacy, but the evidence found in the package can still be used in the trial. man who received it.
Judge Daniel Boone’s decision, delivered on Jan. 11 and published Thursday, gives Canada Post and the federal government a year to change legislation to allow the Crown corporation to “open any mail other than a letter.” to determine if the content is dangerous. , illegal or violate regulations.
In his ruling, Boone said the current legislation, which is part of the Canada Post Corporation Act, violates the part of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that guarantees “the right to be safe from unreasonable search or confiscation. “.
Boone argued that those who use Canada Post should have a reasonable expectation of privacy when sending packages, and the current law is too broad.
“The breadth of the research power of the statute is totally inconsistent with the reasonable expectation that the government will not interfere with privacy by mail,” Boone wrote.
Crown attorneys Trevor Bridger and Paul Adams argued that Canada Post should be able to search for packages that may contain hazardous or illegal material. Boone disagreed with this argument, but said the current rules do not work.
“Some kind of objective standard should be required before a search can be carried out,” Boone said. discretion of postal officials. “
The decision comes from a cocaine trafficking case
The decision comes from the case of a Newfoundland and Labrador man charged with cocaine trafficking. The Crown alleges that the man picked up a package containing two kilos of cocaine from a UPS store.
A Canada Post inspector searched the package before the man picked it up, discovered what appeared to be cocaine and alerted law enforcement.
Police obtained an order for controlled delivery and placed a tracking device on the package. Agents put an alarm on the package that alerted them when the package was opened. After opening the package, police arrested the man.
A Canada Post inspector alerted authorities after finding what appeared to be cocaine inside a package. (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press)
Jonathan Noonan, the man’s lawyer, argued that the search for the package by the Canada Post inspector violated his constitutional right against the search or confiscation without reason.
Although Boone agreed, he refused to set an alternative standard for constitutional research, instead of saying that the responsibility lies with Canada Post and the federal government.
“It’s up to Parliament to choose the right standard,” Boone wrote.
In an April follow-up decision, also released Thursday, Boone suspended his January sentence for a year to give Canada Post and the federal government time to draft these new standards.
‘An empty victory’
Boone also ruled that the man accused of cocaine trafficking, who was then on trial in June, would not be exempt from the suspension and that the confiscated evidence could be used in his trial.
“Unfortunately for him, this is an empty victory because the declaration of unconstitutionality is an insufficient remedy,” Boone wrote.
And although Boone said the section of the Canada Post Office Act that allowed the search for packages was unconstitutional, the man did not prove enough that his privacy had been violated in this particular case.
According to the decision, the package was aimed at a company, not the man himself, and the man had not shown a connection between him and the company.
Boone argued that the outcome of the criminal case is more important than what he called a “minimal intrusion” of the letter’s rights. He said unconstitutional status has more of an impact on the general public than on the individual.
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