CUFOA

IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF SASKATCHEWAN

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN

BETWEEN:

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

- and -

EDWARD BURKE HUDSON

________________________________________________________________________

JUNE 18, 1998 DECISION CAREY PCJ
________________________________________________________________________

Paul Goldstein - Appearing for the Crown

John Hardy - Appearing for the accused

(A TRANSCRIPT OF A TAPE RECORDING)

TRANSCRIPT SERVICES
1815 Smith Street
Regina, SK S4P 3V7

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THE COURT:	Good morning.	1
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Good morning, Your Honour. Now	2
	if we could deal with the matter with Edward Hudson.	3
	Mr. Hardy appears on that. I hope Your Honour got my	4
	message a few days ago indicating that nothing was	5
	going ahead today.	6
THE COURT:	Oh, I was confused. I thought	7
	that had something to do with what was proceeding this	8
	afternoon.	9
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	All day.	10
THE COURT:	All day.	11
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Except the Torgeson (ph) sentencing	12
	this afternoon, I understand, is going ahead.	13
THE COURT:	Okay.	14
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	But apart from that, Your Honour,	15
	I don't anticipate anything else is -- except there may	16
	be something Mr. Bauer's on, the McKinnon (ph) matter.	17
	I don't know anything about that. I think there may be	18
	an argument on that.	19
THE COURT:	All right.	20
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	I wasn't aware --	21
THE COURT:	Why is the Hudson matter not	22
	going on? I thought we were finished with that.	23
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Your Honour, I --	24
THE COURT:	I thought this was decision day.	25
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Oh.	26

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MR. HARDY:	I thought it was set today for	1
	final argument, Your Honour. We filled written briefs	2
	and then it was final argument on the written briefs,	3
	and basically my understanding is that Miss Humphries	4
	is still away on maternity leave. She was the	5
	prosecutor who, of course, heard the evidence and was	6
	carrying the case, so that's the reason --	7
THE COURT:	So counsel then were anticipating	8
	oral argument after submission of the written	9
	briefs?	10
MR. HARDY:	That is indeed what our	11
	anticipation was.	12
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Your Honour, I spoke to Miss	13
	Humphries about this and essentially the Crown position	14
	is what's contained in the brief. I've read the brief	15
	and I was prepared to come today and indicate that we	16
	had no further submissions.	17
THE COURT:	Right.	18
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Mr. Hardy indicated that he may	19
	be making further argument based on some evidence that	20
	came out of the hearing. As such, I wouldn't be in a	21
	position to be able to respond to that, if the Crown	22
	felt they had to respond. Miss Humphries would be the	23
	one who'd be able to respond to that.	24
THE COURT:	Well, this has been dragging on	25
	for some time. Since I was labouring under the	26

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	assumption that this matter was set for decision today,	1
	and in the event that the Crown is relying solely on	2
	their written presentation --	3
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	That's correct, Your Honour.	4
THE COURT:	-- then I am prepared to deal	5
	with this today and Mr. Hardy ought to say nothing.	6
MR. GOLDSTEIN:	Your Honour, I --	7
MR. HARDY:	Very well, Your Honour. We're --	8
	It's fine, Your Honour.	9
THE COURT:	This is the matter of Edward	10
	Burke Hudson. This matter came on for hearing March	11
	20, '98, at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. My genuine thanks	12
	to counsel for their very thorough briefs. Mr. Hudson	13
	was refused a Firearms Acquisition Certificate as a	14
	result of his refusal to answer questions 35 (a) and (b)	15
	of his application, which questions read as follows:	16
	35 During the last two years have you	17
	experienced	18
		19
	(a) divorce, separation or	20
	relationship breakdown	21
		22
	(b) failure in school, loss of job	23
	or bankruptcy.	24
		25
	The Crown evidence disclosed that	26
	the applicant was approved at the local level. Mr.	27
	Hudson is a collector and had been issued Firearms	28
	Acquisition Certificates in the past. The Crown	29
	evidence disclosed that Mr. Hudson is in no sense a	30

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	risk as a firearms owner. The local authorities who do	1
	the investigation had no concerns despite the absence	2
	of answers to questions 35 (a) and (b).	3
	The crown evidence further	4
	disclosed that the responses to all of the various	5
	questions are merely an investigative tool. Nowhere in	6
	the form does it say that errors, falsehoods or refusal	7
	to answer questions will result in refusal to issue a	8
	certificate.	9
	However, when the form was	10
	forwarded to Regina for ultimate approval, it was	11
	rejected because of failure to complete these	12
	questions. The primary ground for refusal must be one	13
	of public safety. In this case, none exists, and it is	14
	inappropriate that this application be refused.	15
	Indeed, no grounds for refusal were advanced except the	16
	absence of answers to questions 35 (a) and (b). It is	17
	not in this case necessary to deal with the privacy	18
	issue of requiring citizens to answer broad personal	19
	questions when the police-generated form may require	20
	further review by the authorities. Being a slave to	21
	the application form in this case would appear to go	22
	against the spirit of the legislation.	23
	Unless my comments be	24
	misinterpreted, these remarks apply only to Mr. Hudson	25
	as each application must be dealt with on its own	26

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	merits. So ordered.	1
	What's the process on that? Do you	2
	have that decision extended and --	3
MR. HARDY:	I believe the process, Your	4
	Honour, would be, the decision should include an order	5
	then that the firearms officer issue the AFC, and at	6
	that point Mr. --	7
THE COURT:	Well, if that's your application,	8
	it's granted.	9
MR. HARDY:	Thank you, Your Honour.	10
	(END OF TAPED PROCEEDINGS IN THIS MATTER	11
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Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association
Association canadienne des propriétaires d’armes sans permis