Driving while disqualified; Compliance with 260(1)(c); " . . . to be informed of subsection 259(4)"; Accused misinformed that s. 259 punishable by 2 years instead of 5 years; Flaw fatal; Non-compliance with s. 260(1)(c); Conviction set aside, acquittal entered; Criminal Code, ss. 259(4), 260(1)(c).

Highway traffic; Speeding; Sentencing; Provincial Offences Act (Ont.); No discretion to reduce set fine but exceptional circumstances may support suspended sentence; Highway Traffic Act, s. 128(14); Provincial Offences Act (Ont.), s. 59(2).

Drinking and driving; Notice of Intention to Seek Increased Penalty; Core prosecutorial discretion; Decision to file Notice not an exercise that falls within core prosecutorial discretion; Notice subject to review on reasonableness standard; Crown appeal dismissed; Criminal Code, ss. 254(5), 727.

Selected Case

R. v. Ranni, 2011 CarswellNS 341, 2011 NSSC 209 (N.S. S.C.), Bourgeois J.: The accused was convicted of driving while disqualified under s 259(4). The face of the Prohibition Order referred to a maximum punishment on indictment of 2 years. It did not reflect the change in wording in 2000 that provided for up to a 5 year maximum. Section 260(1)(c) provides for the necessity of "the offender to be informed on subsection 259(4)". The incorrect reference was a fundamental error. The Crown did not satisfy s. 260(1)(c). The conviction was set aside.