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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 57 evidence that it was likely to cause serious bodily harm to a person. Barclay Johnson, the Victoria lawyer who represented Dery, says if the court had ruled the other way then excessive speeding would routinely be grounds for forfeiture. "What they are doing is trying to stretch the boundaries beyond what the statute intend- ed," says Johnson. "e government should not be in the used vehicle business," he adds. Dery was not routine, says Tawtel. "ere are tens of thousands of speeders. We have proceeded with less than a handful, only the most egregious cases," he explains. e provincial civil remedies office in Ontario also faced criticism this year from two Superior Court judges for seeking for- feiture of assets, aer the federal Crown was not successful in its own application. In A.G. of Ontario v. $787,940 in Cana- dian currency, Justice Ed Morgan found the province failed in its disclosure obliga- tions when it sought a preservation order and was making an improper collateral attack on a previous court order. "While it is true that the Applicant is a branch of government, that alone does not mean that everything it does is in the public interest in a way that negates an award of costs against it," said the judge, in ordering the province to pay nearly $16,000 in costs for its failed application. e civil remedies branch of the Min- istry of the Attorney General declined a request for an interview. In a statement, a spokesman said, "civil forfeiture serves to help suppress the conditions that lead to crime and other unlawful activity." One other aspect of the forfeiture pow- ers that was cited by the SCC in Chatterjee, was to assist victims of crime. In most prov- inces though, including Ontario and B.C., forfeited funds are not transferred to crimi- nal compensation boards. Instead, they are used primarily to provide grants to commu- nity groups or police forces. In Ontario, about $38 million of assets have been forfeited in the past decade. A lit- tle more than $21 million has been distrib- uted to victims, but nearly $20 million of that total is related to compensating inves- tors in the U.S. and Latin America who were defrauded in a $6-billion ponzi scheme in- volving the U.S. based Stanford Group of Companies (some of the funds were held in Canadian banks). During the same time period, a total of $9.8 million has been dis- tributed to local police services in the form of grants for special programs. Typical ex- amples of the grants were $37,000 in 2013 to the Sudbury, Ont., police for a system to scan licence plates and cross reference the numbers in a database. e same year, po- lice in St. omas, Ont., received $66,000 to establish a canine dog unit. In B.C., about $31 million in assets had been forfeited by the end of the 2012-13 fis- cal year. e provincial government distrib- utes some of the funds to community groups and police for programs that relate to a spe- cific theme. In 2012, it was bullying. Last year, it was domestic violence. Among the grants awarded last year was $205,000 to the Justice Institute of B.C. to develop and deliv- er cultural awareness programs for police. Priority Service Code: 14-64CL This OsgoodePD and Centre for Forensic Science & Medicine University of Toronto symposium examines the latest developments in several key areas of forensic science and explores challenges and best practices in presenting and examining forensic evidence in the criminal justice process. v'LVWLQJXLVKLQJEHWZHHQVFLHQFHDQGSVHXGRVFLHQFH v:KHQDUH,QMXULHVFKLOGDEXVH" v,VVXHVLQREWDLQLQJDQH[SHUW VRSLQLRQWRGUDIWRUQRWWRGUDIW and other dilemmas v(WKLFVDQGSURIHVVLRQDOUHVSRQVLELOLW\LVVXHVZLWKH[SHUWHYLGHQFH v1HZGHYHORSPHQWVLQWKHMXULVSUXGHQFHRQH[SHUWWHVWLPRQ\ v7KHFRQWLQXLQJWHQVLRQEHWZHHQDGPLVVLELOLW\DQGZHLJKW ZKHQVKRXOGkELDVHGyHYLGHQFHEHH[FOXGHG Chairs Dr Michael S. Pollanen Chief Forensic Pathologist of Ontario Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, University of Toronto Mark Sandler Barrister & Solicitor, Cooper, Sandler Shime & Bergman LLP, Special Counsel Criminal Law, Goudge Inquiry Date & Time January 16, 2015 DPSP('7(67 Registration Fee $525 plus HST ,QTXLUHDERXWoQDQFLDODLG JURXSGLVFRXQWV Location 2VJRRGH3URIHVVLRQDO'HYHORSPHQW 'XQGDV6W:WK)ORRU 7RURQWR210*= (;3(57)25(16,& (9,'(1&(,1 &5,0,1$/ 352&((',1*6 To Register: www.osgoodepd.ca; Or Call: 416.597.9724 or 1.888.923.3394 Or E-mail: OsgoodePD@osgoode.yorku.ca Osgoode Professional Development KDVEHHQDSSURYHGDVDQ$FFUHGLWHG 3URYLGHURI3URIHVVLRQDOLVP&RQWHQWE\7KH/DZ6RFLHW\RI8SSHU&DQDGD ntitled-5 1 2014-10-30 12:35 PM

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