Ontario’s recent call to legalize pepper spray highlights a contradiction. Canadian self-defence law allows people to use force to defend themselves. But other laws make it a crime, or legally precarious, to possess the tools that would let them do so effectively.
MARTIN: The self-defence catch-22 — survive the attack, risk the criminal charges
Canadian law may excuse force in the moment, but it leaves women, seniors and disabled people legally exposed if they carry practical defensive tools before danger strikes.
