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Section 8 Charter protections do not apply to regulatory inspections of licensed tow trucks where the predominant purpose is compliance rather than penal liability.
The City of Mississauga appealed a stay of proceedings issued by a Justice of the Peace on the basis of an alleged section 8 Charter violation.
The respondent was charged with obstructing an inspector from carrying out an inspection under a municipal bylaw regulating tow truck drivers.
The Justice of the Peace found that the second inspector's examination of the vehicle constituted an unauthorized search in violation of section 8 of the Charter.
On appeal, the court found that the Justice of the Peace erred by failing to apply the proper legal framework established in R. v. Jarvis regarding when Charter protections apply in a regulatory context.
The court determined that section 8 of the Charter had no application to the facts because the bylaw was regulatory in nature, the inspectors had no penal purpose, and the respondent had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a licensed tow truck subject to regulatory inspection.
The appeal was allowed and a new trial was ordered.
