The defendant, an unlicensed taxicab driver, was charged with trespassing at Toronto Pearson International Airport contrary to section 2(1)(a)(i) of the Trespass to Property Act after entering the airport on September 30, 2009, despite having been served with a written non-entry notice on September 19, 2009.
The central legal issue was whether the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not fall within the traveller or employment exemptions to the non-entry ban, or whether the burden rests on the defendant to prove on a balance of probabilities that he fell within such exemptions.
The court held that section 47(3) of the Provincial Offences Act places the burden on the defendant to prove the exemptions apply.
The defendant failed to produce evidence of travel documents or compliance with employment requirements, and was convicted.