The applicants brought a Charter application seeking exclusion of cocaine evidence following a traffic stop and subsequent searches.
The court found that the passenger was psychologically detained when police requested identification and that using the passenger’s health card to conduct a CPIC check breached s. 8 of the Charter.
Although a protective pat‑down search was justified for officer safety, opening a cigarette package discovered during the search exceeded the lawful scope and constituted an unreasonable search.
The court also found there were no reasonable grounds to arrest the driver for possession based solely on cocaine found on the passenger.
However, the vehicle search that uncovered a larger quantity of cocaine was justified as a lawful inventory search following mandatory vehicle impoundment under the Highway Traffic Act, and the evidence was therefore admissible.
