Court says conditional sentence curbs are constitutional in Indigenous case
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the constitutionality of provisions that prevent an offender from avoiding jail by serving their sentence in the community, finding no evidence they had a disproportionate effect on Indigenous people.
In a 5-4 decision today, the top court overturned an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that found the Criminal Code provisions violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The decision comes in the case of Cheyenne Sharma, a young Indigenous woman who pleaded guilty in 2016 to importing two kilograms of cocaine in exchange for $20,000 from her boyfriend, a task she carried out to avoid eviction for herself and her daughter.
Sharma successfully challenged a Criminal Code provision that called for a two-year mandatory minimum sentence, and she received a term of 18 months in custody.
