Paige, it doesn't sound like you need any convincing. But I wouldn't mess around with pepper spray or other weapons in these situations. The best defence is a cell phone and to follow the security procedures that your agency has set out ahead of time.
Pepper spray is a big gray area in the law right now.
The Canadian Firearms Centre's F.A.Q. answers the question this way:
Q. Is pepper spray allowed in Canada?
A. Criminal Code Regulations prohibit Mace and similar products designed to injure, immobilize or incapacitate a person. Bear sprays and similarly devices clearly designed for protection from wild animals are allowed.
The
Criminal Code Regulation that they are talking about is this one. It defines a prohibited weapon as including:
"any device designed to be used for the purpose of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person by the discharge therefrom of:
a. tear gas, Mace, or other gas; or,
b. any liquid, spray, powder or other substance that is capable of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person".
Have a look at this website for more info:
http://www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/compliance-conformite/bulletins/police/bulletin14_e.asp
As I understand it, pepper spray (in whatever size) is not being interpreted as being included in this definition right now, although the police are concerend about small, easily concealable pepper spray devices that don't seem to have much application to animals, but do have the application blasting humans in the face at close range.
One thing is clear though: if you blast someone in the face with pepper spray you are very likely going to be charged with assault with a weapon unless you can show that it was clearly self-defence and that you used no more force than was reasonably necessary - and I don't think your girls are going to want to be having to make that judgement. Better to just get the hell out of there, call on the cellphone, or whatever.
The basic self-defence provision in the
Code is as follows:
34. (1) Every one who
is unlawfully assaulted without having provoked the assault
is justified in repelling force by force if the force he uses is not intended to cause death or grievous bodily harm and is
no more than is necessary to enable him to defend himself.
There are situations where you can use deadly force as well, but I'm not going to set out all the variations here. It's basically, you can use force to the level of force you are up against. If you are facing death or grievous bodliy harm... you can respond with deadly force (the test is objective though, i.e... whether a reasonable person in the situation would think they are imminently facing death or grievous bodily harm, not what you yourself think the risk is). If the person is just threatening to punch you, you aren't allowed to kill him to protect yourself. The most you can do is respond in kind to defend yourself. Have a look at the sections of the Code around 34 if you are interested.
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/41663.html
Ah hell, I might as well just give you the deadly force one as well...
34. (2) Every one who is unlawfully assaulted and
who causes death or grievous bodily harm in repelling the assault is justified if
(a) he causes it under reasonable apprehension of death or grievous bodily harm from the violence with which the assault was originally made or with which the assailant pursues his purposes; and
(b) he believes, on reasonable grounds, that he cannot otherwise preserve himself from death or grievous bodily harm.
Anyway, in my view, blasting someone in the face with pepper spray when they are menacing you or being aggressive or even threatening you in some vauge way.... this is going to be an assault with a weapon and you'll be heading to court. Some of you on this board may not like that very much, but that is my most honest interpretation of the law as it stands. People in this province get convicted for assault with a weapon for pepper spray situations all the time. Most of these are young punks on the Skytrain and crap like that... but you really want to be very careful you know what you are doing before you use a weapon on someone. It's quite a limited thing in our law.
