Pubdate: Thu, 01 May 2008
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Janice Tibbets, Canwest News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?237 (Drug Dogs)

DAY: SNIFFER DOGS WILL CONTINUE HOUNDING AIRPORTS, BORDERS

But Other Public Places More Problematic After Supreme Court Rulings 
On Unreasonable Searches

OTTAWA -- Canadians will continue to see scent-tracking dogs doing 
random searches at airports and lawmakers are considering new ways 
for canines to sniff out other public places, says Public Safety 
Minister Stockwell Day.

With a trained Labrador retriever named Shelly at his side, Day held 
a news conference yesterday at the Ottawa airport to warn the public 
that two rulings from the Supreme Court of Canada last week do not 
amount to a licence to carry illicit drugs and other contraband in 
public places.

The decisions cleared an Ontario high school student and a Vancouver 
man of drug charges on the grounds that random sniffer-dog searches 
violated the Charter of Rights protection against unreasonable search 
and seizure in a school and bus depot, respectively.

Police will persist in using the dogs for routine searches at 
airports, border stations and federal prisons, Day said.

"I am wanting to make sure that anybody out there who is thinking of 
transporting contraband or explosive material or items like that, I 
am sending a message very clearly, that [we] will continue to use 
sniffer dogs in these facilities," he said.

Day acknowledged, however, that other locations, such as schools and 
bus stations, are more problematic, after the Supreme Court ruled 
police must have a reasonable suspicion of a crime before allowing 
their dogs to sniff out the public.

Day said he does not like the rulings and officials are looking at 
ways to allow sniffer dogs to help protect students and the public 
from drugs and bombs.

He hinted the government is prepared to craft a new law that revives 
police powers weakened by the Supreme Court.

While the Supreme Court effectively wiped out random searches in some 
public places, the decisions were silent on airports, which are 
governed by stricter security laws.

Several Supreme Court rulings have established that privacy rights 
are lower when weighed against the need to secure the borders, 
setting precedents that legal experts say would entitle police to use 
their scent-tracking dogs in airports.

There is no federal legislation, however, that specifically spells 
out when police can use sniffer dogs, in airports or elsewhere.

The Supreme Court invited Parliament to draft new legislation and see 
how is stands up legally when balanced against a charter proviso that 
established rights are subject to "reasonable limits."

Day said current federal legislation governing airports and borders 
tries to put up a "protective legal fence" around high-security areas 
and there is a "social understanding" that individuals will be screened.

He added that any move by the government will respect the Supreme Court ruling.
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