Chris Selley: Seven years for mischief, one day for terrorism — someone make it make sense
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They won't necessarily get that sentence. That's the Crown's strikingly harsh request. But the Conservatives probably had to say something, to placate the base — even if they regret how strongly they supported the convoy at first, which I suspect they do.
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I'm not sure they had to go quite as scorched earth as they did, however.
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'While rampant violent offenders are released hours after their most recent charges and antisemitic rioters vandalize businesses, terrorize daycares and block traffic without consequences, the Crown wants seven years prison time for the charge of mischief for Lich and Barber,' Poilievre said in an online statement.
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Lantsman took it a step further, alleging the requested sentence amounted to an act of 'political vengeance.' Such allegations — that the Crown is essentially following orders from Ottawa — are always going to get up Laurentian noses and generate negative press. Negative press isn't a bad thing for Poilievre among his base, but they certainly took a risk here. The occupation was unpopular among Conservatives and Liberals alike.
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Poilievre has a point, however, and the conclusion Lantsman draws is one of few coherent explanations on offer.
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In isolation, seven years for what Lich and Barber did would probably strike most Canadians as excessive. (Among all the criticisms of Poilievre's and Lantsman's statements that I have read, I have not seen anyone actually defend the Crown's sentencing request.)
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Funnily enough, just last week, another notable convicted criminal recently got a sentence of seven years. His name is Jamal Joshua Malik Wheeler, whose criminal record in July 2023 included three attacks on total strangers on Edmonton's public transit system. He mugged one transit rider using an axe, which got him a 14-month sentence. He punched another, sending him onto the LRT tracks. He sprayed three others with bear spray.
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He was out on bail, conditions of which included staying away from public-transit property, when he fatally stabbed 52-year-old father of six Rukinisha Nkundabatware, a total stranger. Originally charged with second-degree murder, Wheeler was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter. And yes, his sentence was seven years — the ridiculously low end of the Crown's ask.
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And then on Monday, the Crown, defence and judge in a Quebec courtroom coughed up an absolute hall-of-fame sentence. In October 2014, Oumaima Chouay admits, she decamped for Turkey and then Syria, and signed up with the nice folks at ISIL. She married a fellow traveller, had two kids, and in 2017 was captured and imprisoned by Syrian Democratic Forces. Canada brought her home in 2022.
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