I hope the young man in this video runs for public office. He clearly has a better understanding of the Charter than any of the police officers who attempted to violate his rights, or than our idiot Premier. (h/t skdadl at pogge)
The young man is correct to insist on the police providing reasonable grounds for a search but he pushes the constitutional argument too far, imho. No the police do not have to officially detain or arrest him to search his bag given the context. Yes, the Charter and the Supreme Court (which has followed the US Court closely on this matter) has significantly tightened the rules, grounds and procedures for search and seizure but context matters in all cases. For example, it would be entirely inappropriate for the police to stop and search this young man without a reasonable cause on any other day. Given the context of the G8/G20 and what looks to be a large public gathering in the background (a cop says "protest")and the supposed threat of violence, then stopping and searching people could possibly be considered reasonable by the Courts. The same standards would apply at a sporting event where bags are checked prior to entry. Constitutionally speaking, fair investigative practices and reasonableness cannot be divorced from context.
To put it differently, and in contrast to his there's "line in the sand and it's our rights" perspective, our expectations of privacy and of security against unreasonable search exists on a continuum from very little right to privacy such as airports and border crossings to a high expectation of privacy, such as in our homes.
The key question is how did the police stop him initially and on what basis? Were the stopping everyone or did they choose the young man on some basis?
Good on him for standing up for himself.
An aside, he's what, 10 -12 inches taller than the tallest cop? lol
