racial profiling

The accused were charged with firearm offences after police found a loaded handgun in a satchel inside a vehicle.

The police had arrested one of the accused on an outstanding warrant and subsequently searched the vehicle.

The accused brought a Charter application alleging violations of their rights under ss. 7, 8, and 10(b), including claims of racial profiling, excessive force, unlawful search, delay in access to counsel, and lost CCTV evidence.

The court found that the police violated s. 7 by negligently losing CCTV footage, s. 8 by unlawfully searching the satchel without reasonable grounds, and s. 10(b) by delaying access to counsel and attempting to elicit evidence before the accused spoke to a lawyer.

Applying the Grant framework, the court excluded the handgun and a knife found on the co-accused under s. 24(2).

Both accused were found not guilty on all counts.

The appellants, two Black lawyers, were aggressively asked for identification in a lawyers' lounge by a librarian who did not question anyone else.

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found this constituted racial discrimination.

The Divisional Court quashed the decision, finding the tribunal applied the wrong test and reversed the burden of proof.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and restored the tribunal's decision, holding that the Divisional Court erred by requiring a 'causal nexus' for discrimination and by confusing the legal burden of proof with the shifting evidential burden.

The appellants, a police officer and the Chief of Police, appealed a Divisional Court decision upholding a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario finding that the officer discriminated against a Black mail carrier.

The officer stopped and questioned the mail carrier while on patrol in an affluent neighbourhood.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding that the Tribunal reasonably applied the prima facie test for discrimination, correctly placed the onus on the complainant, and properly considered the unique statutory duties of police officers.