The Gap in Canadian Police Powers: Canada Needs 'Public Order Policing' Legislation

Abstract

The authors identify a gap in Canadian policing law. Police have neither common law nor statutory authority to undertake the sorts of public order policing measures that are thought to be essential to securing large public events, such as Vancouver's 2010 Olympics. The paper argues for the adoption of a Public Order Policing Act designed to confer the necessary powers and ensure their operation in a manner that respects constitutional law and fundamental civil liberties.Revised and published as W. Wesley Pue & Robert Diab “The Gap in Canadian Police Powers: Canada Needs 'Public Order Policing' Legislation” (2010) 28 Windsor Rev. Legal Soc. Issues 87-107 Posted at http://toby.library.ubc.ca/facultypubs/article.cfm?id=2254