WHAT THE JUDGE SAID ABOUT BORDER SEARCHES

Re: Border searches are a fair tradeoff to ensure public safety,
Editorial, July 17

Canadian judges expect to be scrutinized. They are not above
criticism and have no desire to be. Like all of us, however, they are
entitled to be treated fairly.

Your editorial was unfair and misleading; its tenor, far from being
objective, was intensely personal. You assert: "It isn't practical --
it's preposterous -- to require border guards to apply for a search
warrant every time they inspect a vehicle entering Canada."
Ironically, since Judge Ellen Gordon did not suggest that any such
requirement existed, she would probably agree.

Her decision in this case was well-reasoned and thoughtful. You did
not mention that she was driven to her conclusions, in part, by
testimony from the border guards involved; one was found to be a
"dissembler," another's testimony was less than candid and all of
them apparently behaved as though Canada's Constitution had no power
to govern the way they dealt with Canadian citizens. Although your
editorial hints otherwise, Gordon was well aware that border searches
must be given more latitude than searches elsewhere. Her judgment
deals squarely with that issue, a fact which the casual reader of
your editorial would never know.

Your editorial writers enjoy a unique and powerful platform from
which to promulgate their views; it does not flatter them to be so unfair.

PETER J. WILSON

Wilson, Buck, Butcher & Sears, Vancouver