Privacy in Peril: Hunter V Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections

In 1984, the Supreme Court of Canada, in *Hunter v Southam*, declared warrantless searches unreasonable under section 8 of the *Charter of Rights and Freedoms.* Police would henceforth require authorization based on "reasonable and probable grounds." The decision promised to protect individuals from state power, but as Richard Jochelson and David Ireland argue, post-*Hunter* search and seizure law took a turn away from the landmark decision. An examination of dozens of post-*Hunter* cases reveals that Justice Dickson's vision has been diminished in an era of heightened security and expanding police powers.