What is the current state of the law relating to entrapment?

Let me begin with a brief summary of the law relating to entrapment. It was long accepted in the common law that some crimes are more difficult to detect than others and that investigative techniques will vary to suit the crime. “Methods of detection of offences and of suspected offences and offenders necessarily differ according to the class of crime. Where, for example, violence or breaking, entering and theft are concerned, there will generally be external evidence of an offence upon which the police can act in tracking down the offenders; the victim or his family or the property owner, as the case may be, may be expected to call in the police and provide some clues for the police to pursue. When 'consensual' crimes are committed, involving willing persons, as is the case in prostitution, illegal gambling and drug offences, ordinary methods of detection will not generally do. The participants, be they deemed victims or not, do not usually complain or seek police aid; that is what they wish to avoid. The police, if they are to respond to the public disapprobation of such offences as reflected in existing law, must take some initiatives.” (See Mack v. The Queen (1988), 1988 CanLII 24 (SCC), 44 C.C.C. (3d) 513 (S.C.C.) at page 522.)