R. v. Patrick: Is Your Household Garbage Abandoned Waste, Or Is It A "Bag Of Information"?

On April 9, 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its decision in R. v. Patrick (2009 SCC 17), a case that asked the court to determine the extent of privacy rights with regard to household waste. The court ruled that there is indeed a privacy interest in household waste, but that the actions of the owner of that waste can amount to abandonment, which defeats this interest.

The facts of the case were relatively straightforward. Police in Calgary suspected that Mr. Patrick was involved in manufacturing illegal drugs. In an attempt to gather useable evidence, they took garbage bags (on numerous occasions) from his garbage bins, which were located in an open alcove set into his fence. After they discovered, on the seventh attempt, evidence of the manufacture of narcotics, they obtained a search warrant and Mr. Patrick was charged with various narcotics-related offences. The trial judge ruled that Mr. Patrick did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the