The Last Witchcraft Charges in Canada

Omar Ha-Redeye was interviewed by Jane Gerster of Global News on the recent arrests of a Milton psychic by Halton Police for witchcraft and fortune telling, and another arrest by York Regional Police for witchcraft and fraud

The charges are of interest given Bill C-51, which seeks to repeal the witchcraft provisions in the Criminal Code,

So, if this week’s charges aren’t about religion, the alleged crimes can be addressed using the Criminal Code’s fraud provisions, and the Criminal Code witchcraft references are on the way out, why trot out the headline-grabbing witchcraft charge?

“They’re obviously allowed to use any law that’s still on the books, even if it’s in the process of being repealed,” explains Omar Ha-Redeye, a lawyer at Fleet Street Law in Toronto.

Think about cannabis legalization, he says. Even though the entire country knew for months marijuana would be legal for recreational consumption as of Oct. 17, cops continued to charge people with possession-related offences. Those offences are expected to be eligible for official pardons in the near future.

“They’re well within their rights to do it,” Ha-Redeye says. “But the likelihood of the Crown continuing to prosecute it is lower.”

From a policing standpoint, he says it’s likely a standard arrest tactic: throw as many charges as you can at a suspect in an attempt to worry them into entering a plea. In most cases, Ha-Redeye says, the witchcraft-specific charges don’t tend to go very far.

“What frequently happens is that the Crown will drop many of the charges and they won’t proceed on the witchcraft charges.”

…

Even if the Crown does decide to proceed with the charges, Ha-Redeye says there’s no real reason they should. Both women are facing fraud charges.

“Fraud generally can already be used,” he says.

“We don’t need to go to these provisions, including witchcraft, which are inflammatory and strange when we have existing provisions in the books.”