FREDERICTON –
A New Brunswick man who fatally shot three Mounties eight years ago has petitioned the province’s highest court to drastically reduce his previous sentence.
In 2014, Justin Bourque was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 75 years, which at the time was the harshest sentence handed down by a Canadian court since 1962 – the last time sanctions were carried out by the state executions.
In a notice of appeal filed last month, Bourque’s lawyer cited a Supreme Court of Canada decision in May to strike down a 2011 law that allowed judges to extend parole ineligibility periods beyond 25 years for people with multiple convictions murders.
In its ruling last year, the Supreme Court said the Criminal Code provision violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment for offenders who did not face a realistic chance of parole before they died. The Supreme Court also declared the law retroactive to the time it came into effect.
Burke’s lawyer, David Lutz, confirmed Thursday that the New Brunswick Court of Appeal will take up the matter on Feb. 15, but said there will be no oral hearing then. He declined to comment when asked if the procedure would be a mere formality, given the earlier Supreme Court of Canada ruling.
The unanimous decision was in response to an appeal filed by Alexandre Bissonnette, who was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 40 years after pleading guilty to killing six people at a Quebec City mosque in 2017 .
A judge found the no-parole provision unconstitutional, but did not invalidate it. The Quebec Court of Appeal subsequently ruled the provision invalid on constitutional grounds. And it says the court should revert to the law as it was before 2011, meaning parole ineligibility periods should run concurrently instead of consecutively, resulting in a total waiting period of 25 years in Bissonnette’s case.
Bourque pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after targeting RCMP officers on the night of June 4, 2014.
An agreed statement of facts said Bourque’s actions in Moncton, NB, were “planned and deliberate” when he used a semi-automatic rifle to kill police officers Dave Ross, 32; Fabrice Gevaudan, 45; and Douglas Larche, 40. Officers Eric DuBois and Darlene Gauguin were wounded in the shooting.
During the sentencing hearing, the court watched a videotaped statement by Burke, who said he wanted to encourage people to rise up against the “soldiers” who protect federal institutions and protect the rich from the poor. He reflected on his strict Catholic upbringing, climate change, evolution, social engineering, class warfare, tyrants, and threats from the Russians and Chinese.
He was automatically sentenced to life in prison – a minimum of 25 years. The judge also ruled that under the 2011 law, the 25-year parole ineligibility period required for each first-degree murder conviction would run consecutively, meaning Burke would have to wait 75 years before may apply for parole.
With that sentence expected to be commuted next month, Burke, who was 24 at the time of the murders, should be able to apply for parole when he’s 49 instead of 99.
In its decision, the Supreme Court of Canada said the Charter required Parliament to leave the door open to rehabilitation. Chief Justice Richard Wagner, writing on behalf of the Supreme Court, said the 2011 law allowed courts to impose “a sentence so absurd as to vitiate the administration of justice”.
The 2011 law is called the Protecting Canadians through Convictions for Multiple Murders Act. It was introduced by the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on January 5, 2023.
By Michael McDonald in Halifax.
Add Comment