The Queen v. Drybones
- The R v. Drybones case is a famous Supreme Court of Canada decision that used the Canadian Bill of Rights to strike down federal legislation.
- This case emerged when an Indigenous man, Joseph Drybones, was arrested in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in 1967 for being intoxicated off his reserve.
- Under section 94(b) of the Indian Act, it was illegal for Indigenous peoples to be intoxicated off their reserve land, however, Drybones' lawyer argued this section of the Act violated the Bill of rights.
- Since other racial groups did not experience the same legal penalty for this conduct, the Supreme Court ruled the section 'inoperative' as it stood in conflict with the Bill of Rights.
- Parliament later repealed this section of the Indian Act (Section 94(b)) and this marked the only successful case that used Bill of Rights to change the law.
Citation
The Queen v. Drybones [1970] S.C.R. 282, 1969. https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2722/index.do
Overlapping Topics
Federal Government Affairs
Policy Sub-Topic
Policy Type
Supreme Court Case