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Supreme Court: Insite is under provincial jurisdiction

The Supreme Court of Canada today ruled that Insite operates under provincial jurisdiction: "The appeal and the cross‑appeal are dismissed. The Minister of Health is ordered to grant an exemption to Insite under s. 56 of the CDSA forthwith."

In the ruling, the court said:

Section 4(1) of the CDSA engages the s. 7 Charter rights of the individual claimants and others like them, but, because the Minister has the power to grant exemptions from s. 4(1), it does so in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Section 4(1) directly engages the liberty interests of the health professionals who provide the supervised services at Insite because of the availability of a penalty of imprisonment in ss. 4(3) to 4(6) of the CDSA. It also directly engages the rights to life, liberty and security of the person of the clients of Insite.

In order to make use of the lifesaving and health‑protecting services offered at Insite, clients must be allowed to be in possession of drugs on the premises. Prohibiting possession at large engages drug users’ liberty interests; prohibiting possession at Insite engages their rights to life and to security of the person. However, because s. 56 gives the Minister a broad discretion to grant exemptions from the application of the CDSA if, "in the opinion of the Minister, the exemption is necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest", s. 4(1) does not violate s. 7. The exemption acts as a safety valve that prevents the CDSA from applying where it would be arbitrary, overbroad or grossly disproportionate in its effects. ...

The discretion vested in the Minister of Health is not absolute: as with all exercises of discretion, the Minister’s decisions must conform to the Charter. If the Minister’s decision results in an application of the CDSA that limits the s. 7 rights of individuals in a manner that is not in accordance with the Charter, then the Minister’s discretion has been exercised unconstitutionally. In the special circumstances of this case, the Court should go on to consider whether the Minister’s decision violated the clamaints’ Charter rights. The issue is properly before the Court and justice requires that it be considered. ...

The Minister’s failure to grant a s. 56 exemption to Insite engaged the claimants’ s. 7 rights and contravened the principles of fundamental justice. The Minister of Health must be regarded as having made a decision whether to grant an exemption, since he considered the application before him and decided not to grant it. The Minister’s decision, but for the trial judge’s interim order, would have prevented injection drug users from accessing the health services offered by Insite, threatening their health and indeed their lives. It thus engages the claimants’ s. 7 interests and constitutes a limit on their s. 7 rights.

Based on the information available to the Minister, this limit is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. ...

The Minister's failure to grant a s. 56 exemption to Insite engaged the claimants’ s. 7 rights and contravened the principles of fundamental justice. The Minister of Health must be regarded as having made a decision whether to grant an exemption, since he considered the application before him and decided not to grant it. The Minister’s decision, but for the trial judge’s interim order, would have prevented injection drug users from accessing the health services offered by Insite, threatening their health and indeed their lives. It thus engages the claimants' s. 7 interests and constitutes a limit on their s. 7 rights. Based on the information available to the Minister, this limit is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. ...

As the infringement is ongoing, and the concern is a governmental decision, s. 24(1) allows the court to fashion an appropriate remedy. In the special circumstances of this case, an order in the nature of mandamus is warranted. The Minister is ordered to grant an exemption to Insite under s. 56 of the CDSA forthwith.

Crawford Kilian is a contributing editor of The Tyee.

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