Romaniuk's
Search Warrants Considered

Searches of Mail or Mail Receptacles

The Canada Post Corporation Act has a provision at s. 48 which requires that: "Every person commits an offence who, except where expressly authorized by or under this Act, the Customs Act or the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, knowingly opens, keeps, secretes, delays or detains, or permits to be opened, kept, secreted, delayed or detained, any mail bag or mail or any receptacle or device authorized by the Corporation for the posting of mail."
[R.S., 1985, c. C-10, s. 48; R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 172; 2000, c. 17, s. 88; 2001, c. 41].

• Search warrants cannot issue for mail or mail receptacles.
• Postal Inspectors can open mail, "the delivery of which is prohibited by law", and inspect it {paras 21-25}. "Having been contacted by the Canada Post Corporation and alerted to the existence of tobacco which did not comply with Canadian law, the police had no option but to retrieve it and it was not necessary for them to have obtained a search warrant before doing so {para 27}
  [Allen, D.; NLPC]."
• Prisoners' mail, including correspondence with their lawyers, can be searched for contraband, where there is legislation allowing for such searches, to the "minimum extent necessary to establish whether it is properly the subject of solicitor-client privilege {page 823}
  [Solosky. W. (B.); SCC]."
  Related - searches of law offices.
• Authorities can photocopy mailed envelopes that have been delivered by Canada Post under the terms of general warrants. Once the mail is delivered such a provision does not offend the Canada Post Corporation Act {emphasis is the author's}
  [Canada Post Corp.; {paras 29-33}; OSCJ].
  In the obverse situation, authorities can also photocopy and photograph mail before it reaches Canada Post's hands, under the terms of a general warrant. Here to review letters being written by a serving prisoner
  [Ballantyne, L.F.; {paras 58-88}; BCSC].
  Review general warrants.
• A search of all of the mail, pursuant to a consent bail order, and not just mail addressed to the suspect is permissible, even though the wording of the order did not specifically mention mail addressed to other parties {para 56}. Further the authorities can photocopy the same {paras 57- 61}
  [Jaballah, M.E.; FCC]."

End of Searches of Mail or Mail Receptacles

Page SR 63