Pascal Gaétan Marie Chantal Youri Meilleur-Durand

The accused brought a section 11(b) Charter application seeking a stay of proceedings on the grounds that her right to trial within a reasonable time had been violated.

The accused was charged with offences including trafficking in a Schedule II substance and firearm-related offences arising from a search warrant executed in March 2017.

The total delay from the swearing of the Information to the anticipated end of trial was 714 days (approximately 23 months and 12 days).

Applying the Jordan framework, the court calculated net delay of 600 days (20 months) after deducting defence delay.

The court found no exceptional circumstances, as the case was not particularly complex and there were no discrete events beyond the change of counsel.

The court granted the stay of proceedings.

The accused pleaded guilty to possession for the purpose of trafficking in cannabis in an amount less than 3 kg.

She was an employee at a marijuana dispensary that was subject to a police search warrant.

Both the Crown and Defence agreed that a discharge was appropriate, but disagreed on whether it should be conditional or absolute.

The court granted an absolute discharge, finding that the accused was a young first offender with no criminal record, strong remorse, low risk of reoffending, and significant rehabilitative potential.

The court found that conditions were unnecessary and would be disproportionately harsh given the accused's future employment and travel prospects.