The accused pleaded guilty to possession of crack cocaine contrary to s. 4(3) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
After sentencing to seven days jail with enhanced credit for presentence custody resulting in one additional day, the court addressed the mandatory victim surcharge under s. 737 of the Criminal Code.
Duty counsel sought to waive the surcharge based on the recent decision in R. v. Michael, which declared s. 737 unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment.
The court rejected this argument, finding that sufficient judicial flexibility exists to avoid undue harshness in applying the victim surcharge provisions, particularly through the principle of totality in sentencing on multiple offences and the ability to impose modest fines to offset cumulative surcharges.
