Smuggler’s Inn owner granted bail

Bob Boule, owner of the Smuggler’s Inn Bed and Breakfast in Blaine, has been granted bail following his arrest for allegedly helping people cross into Canada illegally.

Judge Robert Hamilton’s decision was announced in Surrey Provincial Court on April 25. Boule’s bail was set at $15,000 and has more than a dozen conditions, including that Boule must turn away potential customers if they give any indication that they plan to enter Canada illegally.

Boule must reside at the Smuggler’s Inn unless given permission to move elsewhere. He must cancel all his existing phone numbers and email addresses and must provide any new ones to his bail supervisor, along with his call logs, text messages and account passwords.

Notably, Boule was required to erect a lighted four-by-eight-foot sign 10 feet from the border of his property that states, on both sides, “Warning, it is illegal to enter Canada directly from Smuggler’s Inn property.” Boule will be required to send a time-stamped photo of the warning sign to his bail supervisor once a week to show that it’s still standing. He was not allowed back into the U.S. until the sign was erected, and the warning will also have to be posted on any website set up by the Smuggler’s Inn.

Boule is alleged to have helped 16 individuals cross illegally into Canada. Smuggler’s Inn is located immediately adjacent to Canada and “0” Avenue in Surrey, B.C.

Crown prosecutors have alleged that Boule committed a number of offenses, including offenses contrary to section 117(1) of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. According to a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), the maximum penalty for each such offense is a $500,000 fine or 10 years’ imprisonment. “The penalty for this same offense, if done for profit, is a minimum of three years’ imprisonment,” said the spokesperson.

Details heard over the course of the bail hearing are subject to a publication ban. However, the PPSC could not provide details of the publication ban to The Northern Light, directing inquiries to the Surrey Provincial Court registry. When contacted, the registry could only provide the section number of Canada’s Criminal Code that allows publication bans to be imposed on bail hearings.

That section, 517(1), allows a justice to make an order directing that “the evidence taken, the information given or the representations made and the reasons, if any, given or to be given by the justice shall not be published in any document, or broadcast or transmitted in any way” prior to the end of trial.

Publication bans can vary in scope and purpose, according to the website of the Provincial Court of B.C. In general, “Laws like this are intended to guarantee a fair trial by ensuring that potential jurors aren’t prejudiced by hearing allegations that haven’t been proven,” stated an article on the Provincial Court’s website. “Unfortunately, there is a downside. To protect trial fairness, we sacrifice the opportunity for the public to learn about the evidence at bail hearings and hear judicial officers’ reasons for the decisions they make about bail. An information gap like this can contribute to lack of public confidence in the bail system.”