Summary

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Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Charter of Rights — Police arresting applicant for domestic assault — Applicant acquitted by reason of self-defence — Applicant suing police and municipality for negligent investigation, unlawful arrest and imprisonment, breach of Charter rights, and defamation — Applicant also suing police on behalf of daughter for negligent investigation of alleged assault — Court of Queen’s Bench dismissing majority of applicant’s claims — Claim for negligent investigation of applicant during arrest allowed to proceed — Majority of Court of Appeal dismissing applicant’s appeal — Whether Charter rights of applicant and daughter have been infringed — Whether police displayed gender bias in matters of family violence — Whether judiciary displayed bias in favour of police and counsel — Whether counsel took advantage of self-represented litigant by presenting false evidence — Whether judiciary accepted falsehoods unconditionally

A fight occurred between the applicant Allan MacRae and his then wife. Mr. MacRae was arrested and charged with assault; he was acquitted by reason of self-defence. Mr. MacRae brought a lawsuit against the police and the city for negligent investigation, unlawful arrest and imprisonment, breach of Charter rights and other torts. Mr. MacRae advanced similar claims on behalf of his 4-year old daughter. He then also alleged that his daughter had been assaulted by her aunt, and was at risk of assault by her mother. Mr. MacRae filed a second lawsuit against the police, on his own behalf and on behalf of his daughter, alleging that police had failed to properly investigate the complaints about his wife and his wife’s sister. He also alleged that police had made defamatory statements about him, which were then recorded in police occurrence reports. The police and the city filed applications to strike all of Mr. MacRae’s claims in both actions.

The Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed the majority of Mr. MacRae’s claims in both actions. The only exception was the claim for negligent investigation of events during his arrest; there was sufficient evidence on the record to allow this claim to proceed to trial. All remaining claims were struck for various reasons, including lack of proximate connection between the alleged conduct and the alleged damages, inadequate pleadings, improper identification of parties, lack of a duty of care owed by police, and lack of evidence. A majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. MacRae’s appeal, finding that the chambers judge committed no error in his analysis or his conclusions. A dissenting judge would have partially allowed the appeal only with respect to the defamation claim, enabling it to proceed alongside the negligent investigation claim.

Lower Court Rulings