Toronto's Manpreet Gill has been released on probation after his involvement in a robbery and subsequent fiery crash in April that killed four people, including an infant, on Hwy. 401 in Whitby, Ontario.
Gill faced numerous charges, but in the end, wasn't charged for the deaths, or the high-speed wrong-way chase in which he was the passenger in a cargo van. The driver was killed.
He may face "immigration consequences," reported the CBC, noting Gill plead guilty to three counts, including the lower charge of theft under $5,000. Other charges were dropped, but he also pled guilty to violating probation and a release order.
"Court heard it was the second time in the past two years that he was found to be breaching his bail conditions, as Gill struggled with opioid addiction," reported CBC.
"Ontario Court Justice Russell Wood agreed with a joint sentencing submission from the Crown and defence, handing Gill a 5.5-month jail term — amounting to more than time served — and two years' probation."
Gill's case appears to be a startling example of Canada's revolving door justice system — growing crime, and light punishment.
According to the Fraser Institute, the rate of population adjusted property crimes — burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft — is also now 27.5% higher in Canada than in the U.S., with 2491.0 crimes occurring per 100,000 people in Canada in 2022—a 7.0 per cent increase from 2014.
As serious crimes are committed, perpetrators are often released back into the community with few, or minimal, consequences.
Legislation like Bill C-75 created to reduce delays in the justice system by promoting alternatives to custody has been criticized for contributing to revolving door justice, say analysts.
Judicial discretion in sentencing, particularly under guidelines that require considering factors like indigenous background, can result in lighter sentences or community-based alternatives that some argue do not sufficiently deter crime.
