Part 37 published on 01/02/12
Court permits surveillance cameras
In a residential condominium building that had experienced several security incidents, there was a major break-in that occurred in the garage. After this incident, there were discussions about installing security cameras and a plan to install cameras was eventually approved by a large majority (35 of 37) of the owners. There would be two cameras at the building entrance and four in the garage. Only two people would have access to the tapes, which would be kept for one month and given to the police only in cases of vandalism, theft, threats, attacks, etc.
One owner opposed the installation, claiming that it infringed his privacy rights under the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. He also asserted that Article 26 of the Quebec Civil Code considers surveillance of a person’s private life to be a violation of privacy. He also claimed that installing the cameras changed the destination of the building and thus required unanimous approval of the owners.
The court considered the need to balance the rights of an individual against the other owners’ rights to security and peaceful enjoyment of their property. The Court said that cameras must serve a sufficiently important objective to justify an infringement of privacy rights, and the use of the cameras must therefore be limited so as to strike the appropriate balance between the competing interests. This balance had been properly struck in this case. When there is a pattern of security threats in a residential condominium, the strictly controlled use of surveillance cameras proposed here was acceptable.
The Court also concluded that the installation of cameras was not such a fundamental change as to constitute a change to the destination of the building.