The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that Section 99(1)(a) of Canada's Customs Act, which allows border agents to search personal digital devices without consent on mere suspicion, is unconstitutional as written, and has given Parliament six months to rewrite the law.
Law Allowing Phone, Laptop Search at Borders Unconstitutional, Ontario Court Rules | Epoch Times | Chandra Philip:
August 10, 2024 - "A law that allows border agents to search personal electronic devices, including computers and smartphones, violates Canadians’ charter rights, Ontario’s top court has ruled, telling Parliament it needs to rewrite the law in six months.
"In an Aug. 9 decision of the province’s Court of Appeal, Chief Justice Michael Tulloch and justices Jonathon George and Patrick Monahan said the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 'guarantees everyone the right to be secure against unreasonable searches.'.... [O]ne section of the Customs Act 'offends this basic guarantee.' .. section 99(1)(a) of the act allows border agents to search 'some of the most private information imaginable on the lowest possible standard to justify a search,' based merely on suspicion....
"The charter requires more, Tulloch wrote in the decision. 'A reasonable search in this context requires a reasonable suspicion,' which means the suspicion must be based on facts indicating reasonable possibility officers will find evidence of law violations on the device, the chief justice said.
"I conclude that the law infringes s. 8 of the Charter and is unconstitutional,' Tulloch wrote.... He also said a less restrictive alternative — requiring border agents to rely on facts that show travellers could be violating laws, as opposed to 'good faith purpose' — 'would not jeopardize its mandate.'"
