Ontario’s HTA Vehicle Stop Power must not be Used as a Pretext to Investigate a Crime
The Exercise of a Power under the HTA must be for a Road Safety Purpose Under Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act (HTA), the police broad powers to stop motor vehicles for highway regulation and safety purposes, and, in some circumstances, to arrest drivers of motor vehicles. [FN1] The Legislature granted the police these powers for the purpose of ensuring road safety . The police are not free to use these powers for purposes other than highway regulation and safety. Brown v. Durham Regional Police Force (1998), 1998 CanLII 7198 (ON CA) ; R. v. Mayor , 2019 ONCA 578 , at para. 6. If the police do not have road safety purposes subjectively in mind, they cannot rely on the Highway Traffic Act powers to authorize the vehicle stop. If the police cannot point to any other legal authority for the stop, the stop will not be authorized by law and so will violate s.9 of the Charter. R. v. Brown , supra ; R. v. Nolet , 2010 SCC...