Do Canadians have to be “reasonable” against home intruders?
Dear friends, I hope you didn’t find yourself in this kind of conversation yesterday: A: “Did you hear there was a shooting in the U.S.?” B: “Yes, but there was one in Gordon Head too—look it up…” We just heard about the recent Lindsay, Ontario case that has sparked a firestorm of public reaction. Around 3 a.m ., a resident awoke to an intruder—allegedly armed with a crossbow —allegedly had entered through the window of his daughter’s room (fortunately, she was not there at the time). The resident confronted him, leaving the intruder with life-threatening injuries, only to be charged with aggravated assault and assault with a weapon. Do Canadians have to be “reasonable” against home intruders? Short answer: Yes. In Canada there’s no automatic “castle doctrine” immunity. If you use force against an intruder, the Criminal Code asks one central question: were your actions reasonable in the circumstances? The law in one page Self-d...