Flying Squad sentencing, property tax exemption for religion, and a Gladue sentence appeal

Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan

This week on Legally Speaking with Michael Mulligan:
A University of Victoria instructor pleaded guilty to criminal contempt for blocking a road by chaining himself to a log.
Other people who had been convicted in similar circumstances have been sentenced to a period of probation with 100 hours of community work service.
Following the man's arrest, his bag, containing $1605 of his camping gear, was “repeatedly run over by a road grader”.
Judges can consider the “collateral consequences” of a charge when determining an appropriate sentence.
As a result, the man’s sentence was ordered to complete only 70 hours of community service: an effective reduction of $53.50 / hour for the run-over camping gear.
Also, on the show, statutory exemptions from paying municipal property tax are discussed.
In British Columbia, municipalities determine their budget and set mill rates for different kinds of property. The mill rates are multiplied by every $1,000 in property value, as determined by BC Assessment.
Because of how this system works, the amount of tax payable by each property owner depends on the relative value of properties and how many properties there are to distribute the tax burden.
Section 220 of the Community Charter includes a list of kinds of properties that enjoy a statutory exemption from paying any property taxes. They include hospitals, schools, graveyards, and property owned by the provincial government. It wouldn’t be sensible if municipalities could impose very high property taxes on the legislature building, for example.
Section 220 (h), however, exempts property owned or leased by religious organizations from paying any municipal tax. The result of this statutory exception is that all other property owners in a municipality are required to pay more in property tax to subsidize religious organizations that are paying nothing.
In addition to the unfairness of requiring all other property owners to subsidize religious organizations, the exemption may be inconsistent with section 2 (a) of the Charter, which provides for “freedom of conscience and religion”. This section has been interpreted to include freedom from being required to engage in religious activity.
In a case called R. v. Big M Drug Mart Ltd., the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Lords Day Act, which required businesses to be shut on Sunday, contravened section 2 (a) of the Charter. This compelled business owners who were not religious or who worshiped on days other than Sunday to close or pay a fine.
There would be a compelling argument that requiring property owners to pay higher property taxes to subsidize religious organizations is unconstitutional.
Finally, on the show, a new BC Court of Appeal decision expanded the scope of how judges should interpret section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code. This section provides that when sentencing someone, a judge should consider all available sanctions other than imprisonment “with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders.”
The court reduced a sentence from 5 years to 4 years in jail for a Métis man convicted of aggravated assault for an unprovoked stabbing.
The accused in the case had a horrific childhood, primarily because of his non-indigenous stepfather.
The Court of Appeal concluded that the man had a “significantly reduced level of moral blameworthiness” and had no difficulty inferring that “Canada’s colonial history and assimilationist policies played a role in bringing Mr. Kehoe before the court.”
Follow this link for a transcript of the show and links to the cases discussed.