Adam Drake must serve at least 17 years in Pat Stay murder
CBC
Adam Drake must serve a minimum of 17 years in prison before he can begin applying for parole for the murder of Dartmouth battle rapper Pat Stay.
Drake, 34, fatally stabbed Stay in a downtown Halifax bar in September 2022. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder this June.
On Friday, Justice Scott Norton of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court set Drake’s parole ineligibility. The Crown had asked for a minimum of 20 to 23 years while Drake’s lawyer, Michael Lacy, suggested 13 to 15 years.
Neither Lacy nor Drake appeared in court in person. Both were on video monitors in the Halifax courtroom.
In arguing for a harsher sentence, Crown prosecutor Carla Ball cited Drake’s history of violence.
“Mr. Drake is a dangerous man,” Ball said outside court.
“He walks in the community and causes grave threat to our society and that's demonstrated by his criminal history, and the judge ruled in accordance with that.”
Lacy had argued that Drake’s background should weigh heavily in support of a lighter parole term.
Drake is a member of the Big Stone Cree Nation in Alberta and moved with his family to Nova Scotia. A Gladue report, which looked at Drake’s Indigenous background and difficult upbringing, was prepared for the court to consider in sentencing.
Norton said Stay’s death was a loss for the people of Nova Scotia and the judge expressed doubts about the chances of Drake being rehabilitated. He described the murder as “inexplicable, needless, senseless and gratuitous.”
Drake
Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives will huddle behind closed doors at a policy convention this weekend as some Tories question the party’s direction after nearly eight years in power.
The father of a three-year-old girl that was killed after being struck by a vehicle in Cambridge in mid-December says recent charges laid to the driver bring little comfort and relief.
The start of kindergarten can be a time of excitement or anxiety for parents, guardians and children — and also for Prince Edward Island's education officials as they try to staff schools appropriately.
Nunavut Nukkiksautiit Corporation (NNC)’s proposed hydro project is facing some backlash in Pangnirtung.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will take to the stage Friday for what could be one of the most important speeches of his political career as he tries to convince delegates at the party's Calgary convention to keep him in the job.
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.
New data shows Winnipeg's fire-paramedic service fielded hundreds of reports involving the city's homeless population, but one advocate says she expects that number to go down in light of the city's limits on where encampments can be.
Former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the federal government.