CANADIAN COURTS ARE FAILING US

Last Saturday's Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled "Supreme Court sides with woman detained in handrail dispute". What is horrific about this case is the complete lack of commonsense from the transit agency involved, the police officer involved, the Court of Quebec and the Quebec Court of Appeal. Lest anyone suggest that the problem with our courts is simply next door in Quebec let me assure you that our Superior Court in Kitchener screws up regularly. I believe that the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto makes fewer messes with justice but still does on occasion.

An adult woman was detained, arrested and charged by a police officer in Montreal. Her crime: she failed to hold onto the handrail while descending on an escalator. She responded that she did not feel that the Hold Handrail sign legally obligated her to do so and then refused to identify herself when so ordered by the police officer.

After the local municipal court acquitted her on the total of $420 from two tickets the officer issued her, she then sued. Being detained, arrested and handcuffed for failing to hold a handrail seemed excessive to both her and to the Supreme Court of Canada which blasted the police, the city and the two lower courts (Quebec & Quebec Court of Appeal). The Supreme Court said that there had been no offence or crime by simply refusing to hold the handrail and that as the alleged offence did not exist in law, she was perfectly entitled not to identify herself and to simply walk away if she so felt. She was awarded a small amount in damages and hopefully both the police and the lower courts have learned something. Unfortunately that might not include commonsense.