Tiffany MacMillan was drunk. She was driving a boat. She killed someone. The events that ensued thereafter and the actions of the police resulted in a violation of her rights under section 10(b) of the Charter. The trial judge thought there were also breaches of sections 8 and 9 as well. The trial judge also thought the breaches were so serious that the evidence should be excluded. The trial judge was wrong on both accounts: 2013 ONCA 109.

 

MacMillan was driving a boat. She had a significant amount of alcohol in her system when she was doing so – her BAC some 3 hours later was 170 mg of alcohol/100 ml of blood.

As a result of the incident the OPP were called. Cst Ariss arrived on scene around 5:30 pm. Upon arrival Ariss noted paramedics on scene and a body covered with a sheet on the shore. There was also a young woman, MacMillan, siting at the end of the dock; she was crying and appeared distraught.