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Arctic Bay residents say RCMP officers opened people’s packages outside the local post office on Tuesday while looking for alcohol.
Tasha Koonoo is one of several people in Arctic Bay who say they were stopped by RCMP and had their packages opened and searched.
“There was chaos last week with alcohol in town and a couple accidents happened so … they were checking every box that came in, even through Amazon,” Koonoo said.
She added that officers took her truck keys during the search.
Arctic Bay’s liquor restrictions mean alcohol can only be brought in with the approval of an Alcohol Education Committee. Residents need to apply through the committee to bring any alcohol in.
Nunavut’s Department of Finance said it received seven reports of alcohol seized by RCMP in the community since June 1. The RCMP said it seized 30 bottles of liquor in various sizes since the beginning of August.
Nunavut RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Pauline Melanson said Arctic Bay RCMP were following the Nunavut Liquor Act when conducting their searches.
Section 107 of the Act “provides authority for a peace officer to search any vehicle at any time, without a warrant provided the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that liquor is unlawfully kept or had.”
“They were acting on information they received and stopping vehicles to search and seize liquor,” Melanson said in an email.
Melanson said no tickets were issued for the seizures and no one was arrested.
“As those are summary offences we have up to 12 months to issue a ticket,” she said.
Search ‘problematic’ says lawyer
Some experts say that searching mail raises questions about privacy and people’s rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Shakir Rahim, a lawyer and director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s criminal justice program, said it raises “serious concerns.”
Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.
“A lot of personal and intimate information can be contained in mail … there would have to be clear legal authority to permit this kind of a search,” Rahim said.
“It is problematic from a rights-respecting point of view and from our privacy interests as individuals to say, ‘Because this problem exists, everybody’s mail should be searched’,” he added.
Rahim said in most cases, searching people’s mail requires a warrant.
“There are very specific rules in the law about the police having to explain that a person is not obligated to show what they might be carrying or agree to that kind of a search.”
He added that residents have the right to ask if they can refuse a search, as well as ask for the legal basis for the search.
Tom Engel, a criminal defence lawyer in Edmonton, agreed.
“You have to have reasonable and probable grounds to believe that the person has it,” he said.
He added that even if RCMP were acting on a tip, it would need to be specific.
“That tip couldn’t have been everybody who’s picking up mail has booze,” Engel said.
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