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31641

Ambroise Joseph McKay v. Her Majesty the Queen

(Manitoba) (Criminal) (As of Right)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2007-03-28 Transcript received, (33 pages)
2007-03-27 Appeal closed
2007-03-26 Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties
2007-03-26 Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties
2007-03-23 Judgment on the appeal rendered, CJ Ba Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro, The appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Manitoba, Number AR 05-30-06211, 2006 MBCA 83, dated August 3, 2006, was heard this day and the following judgment was rendered:
The Chief Justice (orally) — We agree with the Court of Appeal's decision to set aside the acquittal ((2006), 211 C.C.C. (3d) 74, 2006 MBCA 83). Defence of property under s. 41 alone could not justify the commission of the aggravated assault alleged in this case. We are not satisfied, however, that the findings of the trial judge suffice to ground the conviction entered by the Court of Appeal. In particular, the trial judge made no finding that the appellant had intentionally stabbed the complainant. Moreover, he expressed reservations about the overall reliability of the evidence.
In so concluding, we should not be taken as endorsing the Court of Appeal's analysis on the scope of the defence of property. By way of clarification, we should not be taken as endorsing the view that "defence of property alone will never justify the use of anything more than minor force being used against a trespasser" (para. 15) or that, in all cases, "the defence of property alone will not justify the intentional use of a weapon against a trespasser" (para. 23).
The appeal is allowed, the conviction set aside, and the matter remitted to the Court of Queen's Bench for a new trial.
Allowed
2007-03-23 Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings
2007-03-23 Appellant's condensed book, 14 copies - distributed in Court. Ambroise Joseph McKay
2007-03-23 Hearing of the appeal, 2007-03-23, CJ Ba Bi LeB De F Abe Cha Ro
Judgment rendered
2007-03-14 Notice of appearance, Evan Roitenberg and Paul Cooper will be appearing. Ambroise Joseph McKay
2007-02-16 Appeal perfected for hearing
2007-02-15 Respondent's factum, Completed on: 2007-02-16 Her Majesty the Queen
2007-01-16 Notice of appearance, Brian Wilford and Richard Saul will be present at the hearing. Her Majesty the Queen
2006-12-22 Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2006-12-22 Ambroise Joseph McKay
2006-12-22 Appellant's record, Completed on: 2006-12-22 Ambroise Joseph McKay
2006-12-22 Appellant's factum, Completed on: 2006-12-22 Ambroise Joseph McKay
2006-11-16 Notice of hearing sent to parties
2006-11-15 Appeal hearing scheduled, 2007-03-23, Previously Mar. 27/07
Judgment rendered
2006-10-24 Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right)
2006-10-04 Order on motion to extend time to serve and/or file notice of appeal
2006-10-04 Decision on motion to extend time to serve and/or file notice of appeal, to Sept. 29/06, Cha
Granted
2006-10-04 Submission of motion to extend time to serve and/or file notice of appeal submitted, Cha
2006-09-29 Response to motion to extend time to serve and/or file notice of appeal, Completed on: 2006-09-29 Her Majesty the Queen
2006-09-29 Motion to extend the time to serve and/or file the notice of appeal, missing $50.00 - rec'd Oct. 2/06, Completed on: 2006-10-03 Ambroise Joseph McKay
2006-09-29 Notice of appeal, missing $50.00 - rec'd Oct. 2/06, Completed on: 2006-10-03 Ambroise Joseph McKay

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
McKay, Ambroise Joseph Appellant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Her Majesty the Queen Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: McKay, Ambroise Joseph

Counsel
Names
Evan J. Roitenberg
Paul Cooper
Contact information
Gindin, Wolson, Simmonds
1200 - 363 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3N9
Telephone: (204) 985-8181
FAX: (204) 985-8190
Email: roitenberg@gws.ca
Agent
Name
Marie-France Major
Contact information
Lang Michener LLP
300 - 50 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6L2
Telephone: (613) 232-7171
FAX: (613) 231-3191
Email: mmajor@langmichener.ca

Party: Her Majesty the Queen

Counsel
Names
Brian G. Wilford
Richard Saull
Contact information
Attorney General of Manitoba
5th Floor, 405 Broadway
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3L6
Telephone: (204) 945-6121
FAX: (204) 945-1260
Agent
Name
Henry S. Brown, Q.C.
Contact information
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin St
P.O. Box 466, Stn "D"
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 788-3433
Email: henry.brown@gowlings.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Criminal law — Trespasser — Assault — Defence of property under s. 41(1) of the Criminal Code —Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation and application of R. v. Gunning, [2005] 1 S.C.R. 627, 2005 SCC 27— Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the force applied by the Appellant was that an aggravated assault and in not giving him the benefit of a reasonable doubt — Whether the verdict was against the weight of the evidence — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in substituting a verdict of guilty instead of ordering a new trial as all findings necessary to support a verdict of guilty had not been made out.

A trespasser, Kevin Pashe, was one of several people who had been partying with the Appellant, Ambroise Joseph McKay, at the Appellant’s house. During the party, the Appellant assaulted one of the other partygoers, Shane Chartrand, causing him bodily harm (at trial the Appellant conceded this offence). Pashe, Chartrand and the others left the house after the Appellant told everyone to leave. A few minutes later, Chartrand, accompanied by Pashe, returned to get his stereo equipment from the basement. The Appellant said that Chartrand could stay but not Pashe. The evidence indicated that Pashe remained so that Chartrand would not be alone with the Appellant as he gathered up his equipment. The Appellant retrieved a knife from the upstairs kitchen and brandished it at Pashe, who disarmed the Appellant but did not leave. The Appellant went back upstairs and returned with a paring knife in each hand. At some point, the Appellant and Pashe started to grapple with one another. In the course of these events, Pashe was severely cut across the face.

The Appellant was charged with assault causing bodily harm on Shane Chartrand and aggravated assault on Kevin Pashe. The Appellant conceded the assault on Chartrand. The trial judge acquitted the Appellant of aggravated assault. On appeal, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal against the acquittal and substituted a verdict of guilty of aggravated assault for the acquittal.

Lower court rulings

August 18, 2005
Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba

CR04-01-25590

See file

August 3, 2006
Court of Appeal of Manitoba

AR 05-30-06211; 2006 MBCA 83

See file

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2025-05-13