Search and Seizure Law in Canada 2023

Jennifer Conroy
Appeals Unit Team Leader, Public Prosecution Service of Canada (Toronto)

Mark Halfyard
Daniel Brown Law (Toronto)

While exclusion of evidence remains the most common remedy for a s.8 breach, this session will explore alternative remedies under s. 24(1) of the Charter.

Erin Dann
Embry Dann LLP (Toronto)

Diana Lumba
Counsel, Public Prosecution Service of Canada (Toronto)

In 2022 the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in R. v Stairs. This case revisited the analytical framework for search incident to arrest in a dwelling house. These speakers will explain the implications of the Court’s decision and survey the post-Stairs jurisprudence.

10:30 a.m.
Break

Scott C. Hutchison
Henein Hutchison LLP (Toronto)

Andi MacKay
MacKay Boyar Law Corp. (Vancouver)

Dane Bullerwell
Public Prosecution Service of Canada (Edmonton)

The explosion of potential information resources for police has forced a reexamination of privacy and the scope of legitimate police conduct and various s.8 issues. Our speakers will examine the issues arising from new technologies.

12:00 p.m.
Break

The Honourable J. Michal Fairburn
Associate Chief Justice of Ontario

“Advocacy in Section 8 Cases: Continuing Opportunities”

As counsel, scholar and jurist, Associate Chief Justice Fairburn has been at the forefront of search litigation for almost three decades. In this Keynote Address she reflects on the role of advocacy in the evolution of s.8 of the Charter and search law generally.

Frank Addario
Addario Law Group (Toronto)

Marie-Christine Godbout
Directeur Des Poursuites Criminelles Et Pénales, Bureau De Lutte Au Crime Organisé (Montreal)

Recent decisions have begun to question the automatic excision rule on s.8 challenges to warrants. Other decisions have considered whether and how the rule applies to warrantless searches. See, for example: R. v. Love, 2022 ABCA 269, R. v. Bhogal, 2020 ONSC 7327, R. v. Rizzuto, 2021 QCCA 1789. These speakers who were counsel in R. v. Rizzuto will review the key cases and debate the issues.

Lesley Ruzicka, K.C.
Crown Counsel B.C. Prosecution Service, Criminal Appeals and Special Prosecutions (Victoria)

Tony Paisana
Peck & Company (Vancouver)

These speakers will explore issues relating to summary dismissal, including the threshold test, procedure and practical considerations. They will also consider the potential impact of the Supreme Court of Canada pending decision in R. v. Johnston and Haevischer.

2:15 p.m.
Break

Gerald Chan
Stockwoods LLP (Toronto)

LCol Natasha Thiessen
Deputy Director of Military Prosecutions (Reserves), Office of the Judge Advocate General, Canadian Armed Forces. (Ottawa-Hull)

Jason Wakely
General Counsel, Public Prosecution Service of Canada (Toronto)

Fifteen years after R. v. Hape, the Supreme Court of Canada is revisiting extra-territorial searches in R. v. McGregor. Our presenters will consider where the law has been and where it is going.

Sunil Gurmukh
Western Law

Roger Shallow
Counsel, Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario

Karen Endres, K.C.
Managing Lawyer, Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission, (Dartmouth)

The Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Le highlighted the intersection between issues of systemic racism and the exercise of police powers of investigation. This panel, composed of highly respected crown, defence, and academic representatives will look at the ways in which allegations of systemic racism inform our analysis of search powers exercised by police.