R. v. Drybones
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R. v. Drybones (1969), [1970] S.C.R. 282 is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision where the Court held that the Canadian Bill of Rights could be used to render federal statutes inoperative that were inconsistent with it. In a 6 to 3 majority, the Court stuck down section 94(b) of the Indian Act which prohibited "Indians" from being intoxicated off of reserve land.
Prior to this decision there was much debate on the application of the Bill of Rights to an infringing statute. The general opinion was that the Bill of Rights could only be used as an interpretive tool when analysing a statute. After this case, however, the overriding power of the Bill infrequently used, and has since never been reconsidered by the Supreme Court.
In 1971, section 94 was repealed by Parliament.
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