Dr. Brenda Restoule

A First Nations woman pleaded guilty to multiple drinking and driving offences and related charges.

The court found that Ontario's failure to proclaim the curative discharge provision violated the equality rights of Indigenous offenders under the Charter.

The court applied a remedial approach under s. 24(1) of the Charter and granted curative discharges on the impaired driving counts, finding that intensive culturally-based treatment through an accredited NNADAP facility was in the public interest.

The decision emphasizes the intergenerational trauma stemming from residential schools and the need for a realistic, progressive approach to assessing treatment success for Indigenous offenders.

The applicant, an Aboriginal woman from the Mississauga First Nation, entered guilty pleas to drinking and driving offences and sought a curative discharge as a remedy for alleged Charter violations.

She argued that Ontario's failure to proclaim section 255(5) of the Criminal Code—which permits curative discharges for impaired driving offences—violated her equality rights under section 15 of the Charter.

The court found that the provincial policy created differential treatment of Aboriginal offenders by denying them access to restorative sentencing options mandated by section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code.

The court held that the non-proclamation constituted systemic discrimination against Indigenous persons and violated their equality rights, which were not saved by section 1 of the Charter.

The court granted a remedy permitting consideration of a curative discharge.