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Late Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Criminal Code provision that meant multiple murderers might have to wait 50 years or more to apply for parole.
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QUE: Lawyers for Quebec City mosque killer Alexandre Bissonnette who murdered six people and was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison before he could apply for parole took umbrage at his sentence. They wanted the Supreme Court to rule the sentence unconstitutional.
BACKGROUND: In 2011, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced a provision that allowed a judge, in the event of multiple murders, to impose a life sentence and parole ineligibility periods of 25 years to be served consecutively for each murder.
OVERTURNED: Judges from Canada’s highest court sniffed that to hammer multiple murderers with consecutive 25-year sentences was “cruel and unusual.” Their reasoning was that it takes away from our most violent killers any hope of parole before they die.
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AND: The Supreme Court said that in order to ensure respect for the inherent dignity of every individual, the Charter requires Parliament to leave a door open for rehabilitation.
WHAT NEXT? Every mass murderer in Canada sentenced after 2011 will now see their sentences until parole eligibility cut by up to two-thirds. Chief Justice Richard Wagner sniffed that a whole life sentence “would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.” Many of these monsters will still never see the light of day.
QUOTES: “Today, we are thinking about the families. Their pain has never fully healed, and their wounds are reopened today as they struggle with the possibility of being among the one who killed their loved ones that night.” — Mustafa Farooq, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims