16.11.2014 Views

Young v. Saanich Police Department, 2003 BCSC 926 (CanLII).

Young v. Saanich Police Department, 2003 BCSC 926 (CanLII).

Young v. Saanich Police Department, 2003 BCSC 926 (CanLII).

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

<strong>Young</strong> v. <strong>Saanich</strong> <strong>Police</strong> <strong>Department</strong>, et al Page 56<br />

life or health without fear of criminal sanction if<br />

an act of Parliament forces a person whose life or<br />

health is in danger to choose between, on the one<br />

hand, the commission of a crime to obtain effective<br />

and timely medical treatment and, on the other hand,<br />

inadequate treatment or no treatment at all, the<br />

right to security of the person has been violated.<br />

The court further relied upon the reasoning of Sopinka J. in<br />

Rodriguez v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1993] 3<br />

S.C.R. 519 at 588:<br />

<strong>2003</strong> <strong>BCSC</strong> <strong>926</strong> (<strong>CanLII</strong>)<br />

... There is no question, then, that personal<br />

autonomy, at least with respect to the right to make<br />

choices concerning one's own body, control over<br />

one's physical and psychological integrity, and<br />

basic human dignity are encompassed within security<br />

of the person, at least to the extent of freedom<br />

from criminal prohibitions which interfere with<br />

these. [emphasis added]<br />

[121] Subsequent authorities have found a breach of the<br />

right to security of the person in non-criminal contexts as<br />

well. In Blencoe v. British Columbia (Human Rights<br />

Commission), [2000] 2 S.C.R. 307, Bastarache J., writing for<br />

the majority of the court, stated as follows at paras. 56-57:<br />

The principle that the right to security of the<br />

person encompasses serious state-imposed<br />

psychological stress has recently been reiterated by<br />

this Court in G.(J.), supra. At issue in G.(J.) was<br />

whether relieving a parent of the custody of his or<br />

her children restricts a parent's right to security<br />

of the person. Lamer C.J. held that the parental<br />

interest in raising one's children is one of<br />

fundamental personal importance. State removal of a<br />

child from parental custody thus constitutes direct

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!