Latest news with #CharterRights
CBC
3 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Oversight on Charter breaches by Ottawa police lacking, lawyer says
In a scathing ruling, an Ontario Court judge called out two Ottawa police officers for breaching a man's Charter rights and lying about it in court. The man was acquitted.
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
No system to track, train lying police, lawyer says after another scathing decision
At 2 a.m. one night in March 2023, two Ottawa police officers pulled into a shopping plaza at the corner of Merivale and Baseline roads to get food at a fast food restaurant when they noticed something strange in the lot: a parked red Subaru, which was running, with someone asleep in the driver's seat. That someone turned out to be a 29-year-old man known to police. And inside the vehicle, Const. Anthony Kiwan and Const. Ali Sabeeh found everything they needed to put him away for a while. In plain view on the back seat was a prohibited Glock handgun with a round in the chamber and a prohibited over-capacity magazine capable of holding 30 rounds attached. The officers also found significant quantities of meth, cocaine, crack and Oxycodone pills. And to top it off, on his cellphone were pictures and videos of the man: Posing with 14 handguns, sometimes with multiple guns in the same image, some of which were equipped with prohibited over-capacity magazines. Preparing and packaging what looked like drugs. Flaunting large piles of cash. Everything found in car excluded during trial But last month, he walked out of the Ottawa Courthouse a free and innocent man after the trial against him collapsed. All the evidence found in the Subaru was excluded because the officers had seriously breached the man's Charter rights. They'd detained him under the guise of a sham impaired driving investigation, falsified their reports, then continued the lie in court under oath, according to the transcript of a decision read in court last month by Ontario Court Justice Mitch Hoffman. The judge found that the officers quickly realized who the man was, that he had a history of firearms offences, and that he wasn't impaired. They should have told him the real reason he was being detained — a firearms investigation — instead of continuing the ruse that they thought he was intoxicated. With the critical evidence no longer usable, the Crown agreed the man should be found not guilty on the more than two dozen firearm, drug and other charges he faced. CBC is not naming him because he was acquitted. 'Planned, audacious, contemptuous and abhorrent' Hoffman told court the Ottawa police breaches of the man's Charter rights were "wilful," "intentional," "flagrant, shocking and brazen. "It was a planned, audacious, contemptuous and abhorrent abuse of an already vast power given to the police from the first steps to its implementation, and significantly exacerbated by the joint venture of both officers to mislead and deceive the court," the judge said. "This was almost as far as possible from a technical breach or an understandable mistake as police officers can get." The man's defence lawyer, Mark Ertel, called the ruling "courageous." It's important to uphold the rights of all Canadians, he said — even if some people might find it offensive in cases like this — "because we have to maintain the integrity of a criminal justice system that has to be above reproach." Charter breaches are routinely argued in criminal courts, but after 33 years in defence law, Ertel said he's never come away with such a strongly written decision, and that it's rare for a judge to make findings of intentional deceit in police investigations and testimony. As well, the tossed-out prohibited handgun evidence was significant. "It takes a very serious affront to the administration of justice for an illegal firearm to be excluded from evidence," Ertel said. In January, CBC News reported on another Ottawa officer found by a judge to have deliberately lied in court. In that case, half a kilo of seized fentanyl and other evidence was excluded, collapsing the prosecution. Hoffman relied heavily on that Superior Court judge's decision in his ruling. No system for tracking, following up with officers Kiwan, who was hired by Ottawa police in March 2020, no longer works for the force. He resigned in May 2024, according to Ottawa Police Association president Matthew Cox. That was a few months before Hoffman ruled in August 2024 that the investigation had breached the man's Charter rights. (The decision last month was to exclude the evidence because of those breaches.) Sabeeh remains with the service on patrol. Ertel doesn't think the Ottawa Police Service has any system in place to track Charter breaches by its officers, re-educate, re-train or discipline them about those breaches, or even let them know when breaches are found to have happened in court. Cox, the head of the union representing civilian and sworn members of the Ottawa Police Service, confirmed it. "There is no system in place," said Cox, who has 21 years of policing experience. "Your regular officer is just going from call to call to call, and then having to attend court for a number of different cases, and they don't really follow up and have any knowledge of what actually happened in the case." Such a system should "absolutely" be created, Cox said — perhaps more of a buffer between police and the Crown to act as a liaison. Crown prosecutors, who see what becomes of police testimony and evidence, should be relaying any breach findings so that the officers involved can get more training and learn from it, or even be disciplined if it happens repeatedly, he said. Cox respects Hoffman's decision, but he added that "a lot" of Charter breach cases don't involve police actually lying in court. More often, it's junior officers who haven't testified much, getting tripped up by highly experienced defence lawyers. The Ottawa Police Service did not answer questions by deadline, and did not respond to similar questions about the previous case in January.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
B.C. man who got $8M says he'll be penniless if made to pay sex assault damages
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man who was awarded $8 million after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and spending 27 years in prison says he'll be left "homeless and penniless" if forced to pay civil damages to victims who won a lawsuit against him. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled this week that five women who were awarded $375,000 each in January against Ivan Henry can't go after his home or vehicles pending his appeal, but ordered him to pay $232,000 into a trust account. "The value of the (January) judgment exceeds my net worth," Henry said in an affidavit. "I would be homeless and have no means to support myself." Henry was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault in 1983, but was released after an appeal determined he was wrongfully convicted and he was acquitted in 2010. The appeal ruling says Henry was awarded more than $8 million in 2018 for breaches of his Charter rights after suing the province and others for wrongful conviction, but five women sued him in 2017, alleging he sexually assaulted them in their Vancouver homes in the early 1980s. The B.C. Supreme Court sided with the women in the civil case but the appeal ruling says Henry has not taken any steps to pay them and both he and the plaintiffs have filed appeals. The five women are appealing the court's refusal to award punitive damages in the case of $1 million each. This week's ruling says Henry applied to "stay execution" of the damages award and he told the court he spent millions defending the lawsuit, gave away more than $2 million, and now lives in a mortgage-free home on a monthly stipend from old-age security and the Canada Pension Plan. Henry filed an affidavit in the Court of Appeal this month that outlines his current living situation, his finances and the history of the case. It says he has had "significant health issues" since his release from prison, undergoing quintuple bypass heart surgery in 2016. Henry, now 78, said he lives alone at his home in Hope, B.C., with an assessed value of $650,000, and he owns two vehicles worth a combined $40,000. Henry said his Charter damages were paid out in instalments. He said he "gifted" more than $2 million to family members and a former partner, and also made donations. "These gifts were unconditional gifts with no expectation of repayment," said Henry, who estimated his annual living expenses at around $40,000. He said the rest of the money went toward living expense and legal expenses fighting the civil lawsuit. Henry said he continues to have "anxiety and other long-term effects" from his time behind bars, and asked the court to allow him to remain in his home until the appeal is decided. "My home provides me with a consistent and secure environment that supports my ability to manage these challenges. It is a place where I feel safe and can maintain a routine." The Court of Appeal found discrepancies in Henry's claims, finding his evidence leaves $1.8 million "unaccounted for," while he couldn't explain where "large sums" flowing in and out of his account went between 2018 and 2023. The ruling says Henry's affidavit is "not consistent" with what he said in an examination by the plaintiffs a week before he filed the document. He had said on May 5 that he gave away an estimated $3 million by 2017. He also said he had about $2 million and a house in 2024, but lost millions defending the civil action. Justice Nitya Iyer found that it is possible Henry doesn't have the money to pay the award and may lose his home, but "inconsistencies" in his affidavit and the examination "raise real questions about whether Mr. Henry has access to more funds than he claims." The ruling says the appeal will likely be heard this fall, with a decision in the spring of 2026. Lawyers for Henry and the complainants did not immediately respond to a requests for comment. The women who sued Henry described sexual assaults in their ground-floor or basement suites between May 1981 and June 1982. The judge in January's civil ruling found Henry liable, saying "it is more likely than not that he was their attacker and performed the sexual assaults … on a balance of probabilities." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025. Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press
CBC
3 days ago
- Health
- CBC
B.C. man who got $8M for wrongful conviction says he'll be penniless if made to pay sex assault damages
A B.C. man who was awarded $8 million after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and spending 27 years in prison says he'll be left "homeless and penniless" if forced to pay civil damages to victims who won a lawsuit against him. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled this week that five women who were awarded $375,000 each in January against Ivan Henry can't go after his home or vehicles pending his appeal, but ordered him to pay $232,000 into a trust account. "The value of the (January) judgment exceeds my net worth," Henry said in an affidavit. "I would be homeless and have no means to support myself." Henry was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault in 1983, but was released after an appeal determined he was wrongfully convicted and he was acquitted in 2010. The appeal ruling says Henry was awarded more than $8 million in 2018 for breaches of his Charter rights after suing the province and others for wrongful conviction, but five women sued him in 2017, alleging he sexually assaulted them in their Vancouver homes in the early 1980s. The B.C. Supreme Court sided with the women in the civil case but the appeal ruling says Henry has not taken any steps to pay them and both he and the plaintiffs have filed appeals. The five women are appealing the court's refusal to award punitive damages in the case of $1 million each. This week's ruling says Henry applied to "stay execution" of the damages award and he told the court he spent millions defending the lawsuit, gave away more than $2 million, and now lives in a mortgage-free home on a monthly stipend from old-age security and the Canada Pension Plan. 'Significant health issues' Henry filed an affidavit in the Court of Appeal this month that outlines his current living situation, his finances and the history of the case. It says he has had "significant health issues" since his release from prison, undergoing quintuple bypass heart surgery in 2016. Henry, now 78, said he lives alone at his home in Hope, B.C., with an assessed value of $650,000, and he owns two vehicles worth a combined $40,000. Henry said his Charter damages were paid out in instalments. He said he "gifted" more than $2 million to family members and a former partner, and also made donations. "These gifts were unconditional gifts with no expectation of repayment," said Henry, who estimated his annual living expenses at around $40,000. He said the rest of the money went toward living expense and legal expenses fighting the civil lawsuit. Henry said he continues to have "anxiety and other long-term effects" from his time behind bars, and asked the court to allow him to remain in his home until the appeal is decided. "My home provides me with a consistent and secure environment that supports my ability to manage these challenges. It is a place where I feel safe and can maintain a routine." The Court of Appeal found discrepancies in Henry's claims, finding his evidence leaves $1.8 million "unaccounted for," while he couldn't explain where "large sums" flowing in and out of his account went between 2018 and 2023. The ruling says Henry's affidavit is "not consistent" with what he said in an examination by the plaintiffs a week before he filed the document. He had said on May 5 that he gave away an estimated $3 million by 2017. He also said he had about $2 million and a house in 2024, but lost millions defending the civil action. Justice Nitya Iyer found that it is possible Henry doesn't have the money to pay the award and may lose his home, but "inconsistencies" in his affidavit and the examination "raise real questions about whether Mr. Henry has access to more funds than he claims." The ruling says the appeal will likely be heard this fall, with a decision in the spring of 2026. Lawyers for Henry and the complainants did not immediately respond to a requests for comment. The women who sued Henry described sexual assaults in their ground-floor or basement suites between May 1981 and June 1982. The judge in January's civil ruling found Henry liable, saying "it is more likely than not that he was their attacker and performed the sexual assaults … on a balance of probabilities."
National Post
06-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Jamie Sarkonak: Judges usurp government for drug addicts and cyclists
In the weeks of the election period, Canadian courts were busy preventing any legislation of controversy from taking effect — and they went relatively unnoticed. On March 28, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice blocked the Ontario government from banning supervised consumption sites near schools and daycares. It struck again on April 22, halting the Ontario government from removing Toronto's bike lanes. Article content Article content Article content Days later, on April 24, the Quebec Superior Court cancelled the province's planned mega-tuition hike for out-of-province students. Article content Article content In the case of Toronto's major bike lanes — on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue — Ontario Premier Doug Ford had, in theory, all the power he needed to remove them. Municipalities are creatures of the province, and traffic regulation is also a provincial domain; thus, provincial legislatures can override just about anything that a city council does, especially if related to roads. So, in November, Ford legislated the removal of the lanes, which were previously constructed by city authorities (he was later re-elected premier, so clearly bike lane preservation wasn't a priority for voters). Article content In December, cycling advocates launched a court challenge that, really, should have been laughed out of the room. They argued that the removal of bike lanes amounted to a violation of their Charter rights, specifically the Section 7 catch-all right to life, liberty and security. Article content It remains to be seen whether there is a Charter right that guarantees two per cent of the population the right to have specialty lanes built for their commuting pleasure — the trial process is still underway. In the meantime, Ontario's Judge Paul Schabas, a Liberal appointee, has granted the cycling advocates an injunction to keep the lanes in place, because allowing their dismantling to go forward would impose an injunction-worthy risk of 'irreparable harm' to Toronto's cyclists. Article content 'There is no evidence that the government has engaged in any planning as to how the bike lanes will be removed or what will replace them,' Schabas wrote in the decision. 'The demolition and reconstruction will create its own impacts on traffic — both for cyclists and motor vehicles — and will likely result in considerable disturbance and congestion while that is taking place. Cyclists who continue to use these routes will be at risk of irreparable physical harm for which … the government will not provide any compensation in damages.' Article content And, just like that, a judge overruled a decision of the elected legislature, opting instead to take, temporarily, the zero-risk-tolerance advice of unelected government consultants. It's at least good that Ford is appealing Schabas' decision. Article content Ontario's attempt to shut down certain drug consumption sites — specifically, those that were dangerously close to schools and daycares — went much the same way. Ford passed the law in December with the intention of making some basic, common-sense community safety improvements, acknowledging the reality that drug use sites are magnets for disorder, petty crime and sometimes-fatal gang violence.
