A Supreme Court of Canada decision to strike down a 2011 federal law that made it possible to extend parole ineligibility for those convicted of multiple murders, comes as a result of an appeal by Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette. The decision stated that consecutive sentences violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and amount to cruel and unusual punishment for offenders who face no realistic possibility of parole before they die.

This decision is binding and must now be applied to all sentences, as in the case of Justin Bourque.

Bourque plead guilty to 3 counts of first-degree murder and 2 counts of attempted murder for targeting RCMP officers in June of 2014 and was subsequently handed a sentence of life in prison. The judge also felt it appropriate at the time to apply the required 25-year parole ineligibility period to each of the first-degree murder convictions consecutively, meaning it would be 75 years before he would be eligible for parole. Because of the Supreme Court decision, Bourque’s sentence has now been deemed illegal and unconstitutional, and has been revoked.

The New Brunswick Court of Appeal said it was “duty-bound” to cut Bourque’s parole ineligibility period to 25 years, overturning the sentence imposed by the lower court judge. They explained that a ruling by the country’s highest court is “binding on us” and governs the outcome of this appeal. They did confirm however, that all other aspects of his sentence remain unchanged.

Bourque’s lawyer, David Lutz, said he was obligated to appeal once the law was revoked but goes on to point out that “just because someone is eligible for parole does not mean they may get it. The Parole Board would be extremely careful about ever paroling anyone who committed more than one first-degree murder”.

The police union believes the federal government “should consider reviewing and modernizing sentencing guidelines in order to reflect modern public safety needs”.

It is painful to watch as the rights of criminals are so vehemently protected, while innocent citizens and victims of crime have theirs stripped away. We stand for the rights of all.