The accused was found impaired and slumped over the steering wheel of his parked vehicle with the keys in the ignition.
He was charged with having care or control of a motor vehicle while impaired.
At trial, he argued that the statutory presumption in s. 237(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, which deems a person in the driver's seat to have care or control unless they establish they did not enter the vehicle to set it in motion, violated the presumption of innocence under s. 11(d) of the Charter.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that while the reverse onus provision does infringe s. 11(d) by requiring a conviction even if a reasonable doubt exists, it is saved under s. 1 of the Charter as a reasonable limit demonstrably justified to protect the public against drunk drivers.
