Summary

Keywords

Charter — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — Charter of human rights and freedoms — Right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure — Civil Code of Québec, CQLR, c. CCQ 1991, art. 2858 — Evidence obtained in manner that infringed or denied any guaranteed rights or freedoms — Bringing administration of justice into disrepute — Municipal law — Act respecting land use planning and development, CQLR, c. A 19.1, ss. 227 and 231 — Carrying out of required work — Demolition — Whether art. 2858 of Civil Code of Québec allows unlawfully obtained evidence to be filed.

Summary

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The applicants owned a series of buildings in Ville de Sainte Agathe des Monts (“town”). Between 2010 and 2012, the town conducted several exterior inspections of the buildings. It concluded that they were in a state of disrepair and that they constituted a danger to anyone wishing to live in them. The town sought an order for the demolition of several of the applicants’ buildings under ss. 227 and 231 of the Act respecting land use planning and development, CQLR, c. A 19.1. In preparation for the hearing of its principal action on the merits, and despite the female applicant’s refusal, the town inspected the interior of the buildings. The town’s representatives used the services of a locksmith to gain entry to certain buildings and entered some units through a window.

Lower Court Rulings