Here is a quick overview of the situation with folding knives in Canada:
1. A Canadian person attempted to import 5 pocket knives into Canada.
2. A Canadian border agent opened his parcel and examined the knives. He flicked them open using the flipper and decided that they are switchblades.
3. The border agent denied importation citing the criminal code definition of a prohibited weapon - particularly the definition of centrifugal knife.
3. the individual appealed this border agents decision to the CITT.
4. The CITT supported the border agents arguments in a ruling and rejected the appeal.
5. The CBSA then made a public statement of a new policy based on this CITT ruling that effectively bans the importation of any folding knife with a thumb stud or indentation (ie. Spyderco hole). Thereby making it a new CBSA policy to ban the importation of knives that never used to be considered prohibited weapons by CBSA or any other law enforcement - and the new policy even prevents the importation of knives that were not at issue in that CITT hearing.
Important fact #1: There has been no change in Canadian law - but a change in the way the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is applying Canadian Criminal law. CBSA is choosing to consider a knife that can be partially opened using your thumb and that can then be opened the rest of the way by flicking the blade open with a wrist motion to be the same as a switchblade.
Important fact #2: The recent "CBSA decision", is claimed to be based on a ruling by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT). This ruling supports the earlier decision made by an individual CBSA border agent to prohibit the import of the Kershaw flipper knife. It is uncommon for the CITT to not support CBSA border agent decisions.
Important fact #3: The CITT tribunal is a quasi-judicial body, meaning that it is not bound by the rules, procedures and burden of proof that a court of law is subject to. For this reason, its decisions are not legally binding outside of its scope - in this case the importation of goods. Their rulings do not set legal precedent and are not binding in any other area, most notably this decision is not binding in Canadian Courts.
Important fact #4: The stated purpose of the CITT is to provide clarification about how CBSA interprets Canadian laws - but in this case they completely blurred it - making it nearly impossible for a person to know what is or is not legal to import. As a consequence, this CITT decision is affecting commerce and undermining the confidence of citizens crossing borders and businesses that rely on imported goods.
Important fact #5: The result of this is situation is that knives that are perfectly legal to own in Canada - are no longer allowed to be imported. The new CBSA policy is defying universally accepted Criminal Code interpretations - and in the process causing a huge amount of confusion for Canadians and Canadian businesses.
Not a fact but opinion: the new CBSA interpretation is having the effect of a change in law - which is ultra vires or beyond the powers of the CBSA/CITT. The CBSA is choosing to apply the Criminal Code definition of prohibited weapon in a different way than the rest of Canadian justice system - including Canadian courts, Police, and even themselves for the last few decades. This is the real problem here - why is this agency suddenly choosing to use a completely different interpretation than what has been accepted in Canada for decades? Also, why is the government allowing them to do this? Why are so many resources being dedicated to pocket knives when there are so many larger issues regarding our border security?
. I'm in.
