Oct 052013
Sandra Finley v. Her Majesty the Queen
SCC File No.: 35431
. . . Further to a communication from the Supreme Court of Canada today, please be advised that the judgment in the above-referenced Leave to Appeal will be rendered at
9:45 a.m. on (Thursday) October 10,2013.
(Ontario time)
From Elaine (by email):
I don’t understand the jargon well enough – how will this affect you?
Does it mean there’s nothing more you can do and you could/will be fined/jailed?
MY REPLY TO ELAINE:
RE: how will this affect you?
– If the Supreme Court of Canada says “yes” to “leave-to-appeal”, it means that they will hear the Appeal (the trial will continue). They will advise us of the date when the Appeal will be heard. We will then argue the case for the Charter Right to Privacy of personal information in front of the SCC Justices (saying that the lower court decisions were wrong, for reasons x-y-z.)
– If the SCC does NOT grant leave-to-appeal, it will be the end for my case. Which means that the “guilty” of the lower courts remains in place as a precedent IN SASKATCHEWAN. Which means that we do not have a Charter Right to privacy of personal vis-à-vis the Canadian Census, IN SASKATCHEWAN, . (And the only way for Court decisions to be changed is through changes in LEGISLATION (because of the separation of powers in a democracy – the same guys who make the Law (Parliament) cannot be the same people who apply the Laws (the Judiciary) and vice versa.)
That addresses the DECISIONS of the lower courts in Sask.
Regarding the SANCTIONS (“sentencing”) – –
No, I will not (cannot) be fined or jailed at this point.
I was the one who said that the DECISION of the Provincial Court Judge was wrong-headed. So I appealed the case, not the Crown. In the appeal documents, I did not object to the SENTENCING. The Crown cannot just now add it to the case.
(In Provincial Court I was found “guilty” but given a “conditional discharge” (no fine or jail time, AS LONG AS I didn’t re-commit the offence in a one-year period; it was a census, once every 5 years, so effectively it was not “conditional” on anything (an absolute discharge in reality).
The problem is that the “guilty” decision has the effect of taking away the Charter Right to Privacy of personal information vis-à-vis the Census, in the Province of Sask. The sentencing is irrelevant.)
THE CROWN would have had to launch an appeal of (object to) the SENTENCING. They did not. (If that had happened, I would have had to argue that the sentencing was fair (defend the sentence).)
For strategic reasons, the Prosecutors would have decided not to appeal.
(The Federal Justice Dept does the prosecution of the case when it’s a federal law (Statistics Act) that charges were laid under.)
Note that the Courts in other Provinces, in a similar case, would consider the decision of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. They would give it weight, but they are not bound by it, as they would be by a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada.
And note that the construction of comprehensive data files on individual Canadian citizens is now being done through StatsCan “Surveys” which are on-going almost every day, definitely every month and every year. Regardless of what the Law on surveys is, StatsCan tells citizens that they must supply the personal information or risk prosecution, a fine and jail time. They say “It is the Law” to fill in the surveys. There is detailed explanation in other postings – – the surveys are, by Law, voluntary.
/S
The author of this one must be a Zen Master!
I wish you the best of luck with this …I’ve had a ring side seat at two of these events …may God be in you corner !
I’m sailing on the west coast now .. sailing is my oasis ….sailing is my tonic … my escape …it takes a great effort; tricking the wind to get someplace, so I am involved….at first I was restless for results; now I have become patient, and not fussy about my destination; a master of time and place.
oh, and one other thing. I recognize that you are helping all of us with this action. I think you have mentioned in your posts that we all need to do what we can. Whether you did mention it or not, you are certainly helping with the cause of freedom in a big way – and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for that. There is not much more important than the cause of freedom – especially in the face of the onslaught we are now up against.
Best,
Dave