Here’s something I should have done yesterday, before launching into my analysis of the Charter‘s protection of liberty and of the right to bear arms: read some actual cases! Well, better late than never.
In R. v. Hasselwander, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 398, Justice Cory, writing for a 3-2 majority, opined, at p. 414, that “Canadians, unlike Americans do not have a constitutional right to bear arms. Indeed, most Canadians prefer the peace of mind and sense of security derived from the knowledge that the possession of automatic weapons is prohibited.” However, the issue in that case was not the right to bear arms itself, but rather the definition of the Criminal Code‘s provision banning automatic weapons. There had been, in all likelihood, no argument on the right to bear arms, and there was no detailed analysis of the Charter.
The Supreme Court upheld the federal licensing and registration requirements for long guns in the Reference re Firearms Ac (Can.), 2000 SCC 31, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 783, which has subsequently been cited for the proposition that possession and use of firearms is heavily regulated in Canada. But the Charter was not at issue in this case – it was only about division of powers between Parliament and the provinces. And of course something being heavily regulated does not mean that it is not also a constitutionally protected right – electoral campaign speech is heavily regulated by Parliament and provincial legislatures, but there is a right to engage in it, and at least some regulations will be unconstitutional, as those struck down in Libman v. Québec (A.G.), [1997] 3 S.C.R. 569.
The Supreme Court’s last engagement with the right to bear arms came in R. v. Wiles, 2005 SCC 84, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 895, a brief decision holding that a mandatory prohibition on firearms ownership attaching to a conviction for some (non-violent) drug offences is not “cruel and unusual punishment” contrary to s. 12 of the Charter. Again, a general right to bear arms, or s. 7 of the Charter, was not at issue.
In my view, the Supreme Court has not conclusively pronounced on the possibility that s.7 of the Charter protects a right to bear arms. The question was never directly put to it. The Ontario Court of Appeal, however, took a contrary view in a recent decision. But that decision, as well one by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, rejected a challenge based on the English Bill of Rights of 1689. The Bill of Rights was variously said to have been made part of the Canadian constitution by the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867, or by s. 26 of the Charter, but those arguments were very weak. Again, s. 7 of the Charter, although mentioned in passing, was not the object of a full argument by the parties or analysis by the courts.
So it seems to me that in theory, a well-developed argument based on s. 7 could yet be brought. But as I wrote yesterday, I think that the chances of such an argument, if based on the s. 7 guarantee of liberty, would not be good. What’s left to explore is an argument based on the s. 7 guarantee of the “security of the person.” I hope to get to it next week.