DARTMOUTH – On November 20, 2024, RCMP officers made a warrantless entry into the Mi’kmaw owned Sack Vegas Trading Post on Sackville Drive, claiming to be in “hot pursuit” of someone from a traffic stop. But the facts didn’t support hot pursuit or any real emergency. Once inside the Mi’kmaw Truckhouse, Constable Christopher Graham unlawfully arrested an employee and Micmac Rights Association (MRA) member Daniel Francis, then used what he saw during that illegal entry to justify enforcement action.
Later, when seeking a search warrant, Constable Graham left out key facts and made statements that body-cam footage later proved false. A week later, on November 27, the RCMP came back with a second warrant and piled on more Cannabis Act and Excise Tax Act charges against Mr. Francis for continuing operations.
Daniel Francis fought back. The court allowed Chris Enns, a MRA legal team member, to act as his unpaid legal agent on the Cannabis Act charges, while Francis represented himself on the Excise Act matters. Together, they launched full-scale Charter challenges – arguing the searches and seizures violated section 8, seeking to exclude all evidence under section 24(2), and filing a section 35 constitutional challenge affirming Mr. Francis’s constitutionally protected inherent Aboriginal and treaty rights to economic development.
And then victory. On the morning the Charter hearing was to begin, the Crown withdrew all charges. Initially, the Crown intended only to stay the charges under s. 579 of the Criminal Code. But Francis pushed further – serving notice of a constitutional challenge to s. 579 itself, arguing it violated his section 7 right to a full vindication in court. Faced with this, the Crown conceded and withdrew the charges outright.
Moving forward, applications will be heard in the coming months for the return of all property seized from Mr. Francis and a costs application to recover expenses spent on legal consultations, travel to court, etc.
This case is a powerful reminder: when we stand up and fight unconstitutional policing and overreach, we can win.