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A Certificate of Offence lacking the municipality of the alleged offence is fatally defective and cannot support a default conviction.
The appellant appealed her conviction for careless driving under section 130 of the Highway Traffic Act.
The conviction was entered in her absence after she failed to appear for trial on February 3, 2013.
The appellant challenged the Certificate of Offence on the ground that it was deficient in failing to specify the municipality where the offence occurred, stating only "Wyecroft Rd., E. of Burloak Drive." The court held that under section 9.1 of the Provincial Offences Act, a certificate must be complete and regular on its face for a conviction to be entered in the defendant's absence.
The omission of the municipality constituted a fatal defect, and the conviction was quashed.
The court convicted the defendant of driving while suspended, ruling that redacted Ministry records were admissible.
The defendant was charged with driving while her driver's licence was suspended contrary to subsection 53(1) of the Highway Traffic Act.
The prosecution relied on certified documentation from the Registrar of Motor Vehicles showing the suspension was in effect on the date of the alleged offence, along with police officer testimony that the defendant was observed driving on that date.
The defence objected to the admissibility of the certified documentation on the grounds that it inferred a prior conviction without the defendant having put her character in issue, thereby contravening the Evidence Act.
The court found the documentation admissible, excluding only the phrases indicating the reason for suspension, and convicted the defendant on the basis that all elements of the offence had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
