Her Majesty The Queen v Morrell, 2004 NSPC 4

This case was heard in the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia.

The defendant, Gregory Morrell, was accused of violating the federal Fisheries Act by fishing for lobster outside the scope of his Aboriginal Communal Fishing License. The lobsters had been discovered in Toronto in a fish plant, and Mr. Morrell argued that the way in which the fisheries officials had gone about their search had violated his rights under section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure. 

The Provincial Court rejected Mr. Morrell’s Charter argument. The Court held that the inspection that had occurred in Toronto was not outside the scope of what the Fisheries Act allowed inspectors to do. The Court held that the Act allows fisheries officers to make inspections of any “premises, vessel or vehicle” where the officer “believes on reasonable grounds there is any work or undertaking or any fish.” The Court also held that because the inspection happened at a processing plant in Toronto, and not on Mr. Morrell’s own property, that provided another reason why Mr. Morrell's Charter argument could not stand.

View the Decision on CanLII: https://www.canlii.org/en/ns/nspc/doc/2004/2004nspc4/2004nspc4.html

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