CASE LAW AND COMMON SENSE BACK BORDER SEARCHES

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

Judge Ellen Gordon ruled that the customs officers violated s.8 of
the Charter of Rights because the officers did not apply for a search
warrant before dismantling the truck Ajitpal Singh Sekhon was
driving. She also concluded that Sekhon had been arbitrarily
detained, violating s.9 & 10 of the Charter, when he was accused of
smuggling 50 kilos of cocaine.

I submit that the customs officers were performing their normal
duties under s.98 and s.99 of the Customs Act. It states that "an
officer may at any time examine goods/conveyances entering/exiting
Canada" and "where an officer suspects on reasonable grounds search
any person entering/exiting Canada." Furthermore, the Customs Act is
a reasonable limit to s.8, s.9 and s.10 as outlined in s.1 of the Charter.

Gordon is a lawyer by schooling, and should be well-versed in the
principles of jurisprudence. So how is it possible that she missed
three previous cases that uphold customs officers' duties?

Her fixation with s.8, 9, & 10 of the Charter fails to include s.1,
whose "reasonable limits prescribed by law and demonstrably justified
in a free and democratic society" is expressed in the Customs Act.

Reginald Regala

Vancouver