At the Alberta Court of Appeal, the judge found that part of the Act was inconsistent with the Charter and therefore of no force or effect.

Justice Dickson (as he then was), writing for a unanimous Court, held that the Combines Investigation Act violated the Charter as it did not provide an appropriate standard for administering warrants.

It must, therefore, be capable of growth and development over time to meet new social, political and historical realities often unimagined by its framers.

The judiciary is the guardian of the constitution and must, in interpreting its provisions, bear these considerations in mind.

Professor Paul Freund expressed this idea aptly when he admonished the American courts 'not to read the provisions of the Constitution like a last will and testament lest it become one'.