I saw shared on the Sundre Citizens on Patrol Association's social media page some great advice in the form of an article by Robin Booker dated May 31 on www.producer.com about Canadian property owners' rights when faced with trespassers.
The writer summarized the differences between the justifiable uses of force to defend one's life and property, as outlined by defence lawyer Don Smith, who reportedly spoke during a presentation at Agri-Visions in Lloydminster.
In a nutshell, Canada's self-defence laws largely boil down to reacting to a direct perceived threat against one's life or immediate well-being.
Otherwise, the legal grounds upon which to justify a pre-emptive strike are tough to find.
In other words, the mere act of someone stumbling onto a property does not justify reacting forcefully in self-defence. Unless of course the unannounced individual is armed and acting menacingly. But if the person is just standing or even running away, the law will not be on the side of the property owner who decides to start discharging firearms.
“At the point someone is fleeing from your property, no matter what you do you are no longer acting in self-defence,” Smith said.
Although emotions understandably get riled up with a corresponding adrenaline surge when an uncertain situation arises and we feel threatened, resorting to brandishing guns, or even any other weapon, before making the slightest attempt to assess what's happening only exacerbates the situation. If the person is just there to ask for directions or is perhaps even seeking help, he or she could press police to file assault charges against the property owner, said Smith.
But if he or she is armed — as well as maybe hopped up — and suddenly decides to escalate in kind, what might have been resolved peacefully quickly deteriorates into a tragedy.
All of this being said, needing to be recognized is that among the main concerns for rural land owners in places like Sundre's West Country is police response times. With the distances involved and often rather remote accesses, RCMP officers can — despite their most diligent and professional responses — take upwards of 30 minutes to an hour or more to arrive.
So in the absence of a prompt police presence, the temptation to take the law into one's own hands to protect property might potentially compel a person to react brashly without considering the long-term repercussions.
I thought the information presented by Smith and reported on by Booker sums up a perfectly reasonable approach to assess a situation before resorting to escalating to threats or violence.
Basically, if an unannounced or unexpected individual arrives on a private property, it could potentially be legally hazardous for the owner to approach the situation by going “beyond saying something like, ‘Stop, don’t go any further or I’m going to call the police, give me an explanation to why you’re here’. But to come out, for example, and stand on your porch with a gun, that can be very problematic in terms of the type of offences you can be charged with if you’re wrong.”
