David Edward Gallagher

Two Indigenous men from Pikangikum First Nation were sentenced following their guilty pleas to charges arising from a riot at the police detachment on June 27, 2015.

The riot began as a peaceful protest over an arrest involving tasering but escalated into violence, with the accused breaking into the detachment and attempting to breach the barracks where officers had retreated.

The court imposed conditional sentences with probation, crediting time served and emphasizing reconciliation and Gladue principles, while acknowledging the systemic social crisis affecting the community.

Following conviction for assault with a weapon and guilty pleas to common assault and breach of undertaking, the court sentenced an Aboriginal offender from Pikangikum First Nation to a global custodial sentence with probation.

The sentencing decision extensively applied Gladue principles, considering the offender's background of family trauma, substance abuse, and systemic disadvantage within an isolated First Nation community.

The court imposed a sentence of nine months pre-sentence custody credited plus six months additional imprisonment for the assault with a weapon, three months consecutive for common assault, and one month consecutive for breach of undertaking, followed by three years probation.

The decision emphasizes that while Gladue factors do not provide automatic sentence reductions, they require a different analytical approach and consideration of restorative justice alternatives.