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The Appellant, a gas station, was convicted of selling tobacco to a minor. Shortly thereafter, the gas station was convicted twice more for the same offense. British Columbia’s director of the Tobacco Tax Act expressed to the gas station that they intended to suspend its tobacco sales authorization for 12 months. Before suspending the gas station's sales authorization, the gas station was then convicted a fourth time. The Director therefore increased the suspension to 24 months.
The gas station challenged the 24 month suspension. The gas station argued that, when the Director issued the 12 month suspension (for the first three offenses), the Director already knew of the fourth conviction. Therefore, by delaying the fourth penalty, the Director effectively imposed a 36 month suspension – a suspension longer than the Director was authorized to issue under the statute. The appellant also argued that this delay breached the principles of natural justice.
The British Columbia Supreme Court disagreed. The court noted that the statute allowed for consecutive sentences while concluding that the delay had not “caused a significant prejudice amount to an abuse of process.”