Hamel v. Canada ( Attorney General )
T-1529-91
Rouleau J.
20/8/96
23 pp.
Action in tort against Crown arising out of fault allegedly committed by her servants against plaintiffs-Plaintiff Double J. Ranch Inc. buying and selling horses in Quebec for about twenty years-When plaintiff Hamel arrived at customs office in Lacolle, Quebec on June 18, 1990, truck containing ten horses searched-Plaintiff suspected of trafficking in narcotics and subjected to pat-down search-Horses subjected to series of examinations to determine whether contained cocaine-Horses fed laxatives over period of at least three days and certain areas of their bodies shaved-Horses returned to plaintiff since no prohibited substance detected-Case covered by news media-Whether Her Majesty's servants, members of RCMP, entitled to detain plaintiff's horses at Lacolle customs office for examination and, if not, assessment of damages caused by interception-Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, ss. 3(a), 10-Civil Code of Lower Canada, art. 1053, also applicable-Under Customs Act, s. 99(1)(a), goods must not have been released-Horses herein released-Once horses released, customs officers turned them over to RCMP's control-Members of RCMP who detained plaintiff's horses and had them examined had no reasonable grounds for suspecting horses contained cocaine-Accordingly, defendant cannot rely on Customs Act, s. 99(1)(e) and (f)-RCMP informer not reliable-RCMP did not have enough information concerning Hamel and Double J. Ranch Inc. to do what it did-Her Majesty's servants acted wrongfully in detaining plaintiff's horses and having them examined-On balance of probabilities, member of RCMP responsible for leaking information to media-Plaintiff had to establish fault committed against him resulted from action of servant of Her Majesty acting in course of employment at time fault committed-Leaked information could only have come from RCMP-Information disclosed to media arose directly out of "investigation" conducted by RCMP-Member of RCMP who disclosed information to media did so wrongfully and in course of employment-Plaintiff suffered direct and immediate harm as result of actions of Her Majesty's servants-Claim by Double J. Ranch Inc. for loss associated with horses fixed at $5,000-Interference with reputation may found claim for compensation where amounting to fault and has caused damage-Plaintiffs' reputations tarnished by wrongful acts of Her Majesty's servants-Double J. Ranch Inc. lost business as result of events of June 18, 1990-Plaintiffs entitled to receive $25,000 each from defendant as compensation for interference with reputations and for miscellaneous damage, humiliation and distress resulting from faults committed by Her Majesty's servants-Action allowed-Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-50, ss. 3(a), 10-Civil Code of Lower Canada, art. 1053-Customs Act, R.S.C., 1985 (2nd Supp.), c. 1, s. 99 (am. by S.C. 1988, c. 65, s. 79).