kirks facebook post
Big decision tomorrow in BC Supreme Court. My last post about it caused some confusion. Here's what happening. The case is Boivin, Garber, Sproule and Newmarch v. AG Canada. I'll call it Boivin because its normal to go in alphabetical order.
I represent 4 high-dosage former MMAR patients, names above. Shortly after the Allard case was filed in Federal Court, I filed a similar, but not identical, action on behalf of my clients in BC Supreme Court (BCSC). The BCSC has the right to decide Charter issues that are raised by residents of BC. When the Allard injunction came down, it was clear that my clients (a) qualified for the injunction, but (b) continued to be aggrieved by the 150-gram limitation and the inability to change addresses.
There was some preliminary fighting. Crown asked the Court to stay - freeze - Boivin because they said Allard was the "national test case" and other people should just wait and see what happens. We disagreed, argued that Allard and the injunction helped but didn't fully resolve my clients' issues, and argued that people have the right to go to BCSC for individual Charter relief even though Allard was helping to an extent. The Court, at the trial level, sided with us and refused the stay. This was a big win because a few hundred other cases had already been stayed. The Crown immediately appealed, we argued the case before the BC Court of Appeal, and that decision hasn't been released. But since we won at the trial level, the case is moving ahead.
A few weeks ago we argued our injunction request. We sought to have my clients' MMAR rights preserved including personal production and the 30-day possession amount. Because one client also needed to change his storage site, we argued for that also. The Crown opposed it. The Court reserved decision, meaning that it didn't decide right away. Tomorrow is the decision.
The decision will apply directly only to my 4 clients. The Crown expressed concern - indeed it was the bulk of their argument on both the stay and the injunction - that a decision in my clients' favor would open up the floodgates and that many BC patients protected by Allard (or semi-protected) would come to BCSC seeking similar relief and using the Boivin decision as a precedent. My response was that I couldn't control the actions of other litigants but that all residents of BC have the right to seek help from the BCSC if they feel their Charter rights are being violated, and that just because another case is going on they shouldn't be denied relief if the Court believes relief is justified. Moreover, I argued that if Allard is a loss in Federal Court, my clients shouldn't just have to wait for that, potentially have to destroy plants/genetics/medicine (or break the law) then come back to BCSC for their own injunction.