J. Hurley

A voir dire concerning the lawfulness of an arrest and subsequent searches.

The accused was arrested on the 401 highway based on information from a Toronto drug investigation targeting a different individual.

The Crown sought to uphold a warrantless strip search and vehicle search as incidental to arrest.

The court found that police lacked reasonable and probable grounds to arrest the accused, rendering the searches unlawful.

The court also found that the deliberate denial of the accused's right to counsel for 9.5 hours constituted a Charter breach.

Evidence was excluded under section 24(2).

The Children's Aid Society sought Crown wardship with no access for two children based on parental drug use and alleged protection concerns.

The court found that while both parents struggle with long-standing drug addictions, the Society's apprehension of the children was not justified on the evidence presented.

The court determined that the children should be returned to parental care pursuant to a supervision order with a reintegration plan, finding that the parents' drug addictions, while a legitimate concern, did not preclude their ability to parent with appropriate support and monitoring.

The court was critical of the Society's restrictive approach to access and lack of support for the parents' rehabilitation efforts.