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People-smuggling offence was read down for overbreadth under section 7.
The Court allowed the appeals and held that former section 117 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was overbroad under section 7 of the Charter.
It captured humanitarian aid, mutual aid among asylum-seekers, and assistance to family members, which fell outside Parliament’s objective of targeting organized people smuggling.
Attorney General consent to prosecute did not cure the constitutional defect.
The Court read down the former provision to exclude those protected categories and remitted the charges for trial.
