The appellant was stopped by an RCMP officer at a bus terminal based on suspicious behaviour.
The officer called for a sniffer dog, which indicated the presence of drugs in the appellant's bag.
The appellant was arrested and a search of the bag revealed cocaine and heroin.
The Supreme Court of Canada held that a dog sniff constitutes a search under s. 8 of the Charter.
While the police have a common law power to use sniffer dogs based on a standard of reasonable suspicion, the officer in this case did not have sufficient grounds to meet that standard.
The search was therefore unreasonable, and the evidence was excluded under s. 24(2) of the Charter, resulting in the appeal being allowed and the conviction set aside.
