Father speaks out after son critically injured in crash allegedly involving 5-time impaired driver

A Bolton, Ont., father says he is angry and disappointed after his son was critically injured in a Brampton crash allegedly caused by a five-time repeat impaired driver, who has been released on bail.

Riz Arshad, father of Gabriel Arshad, 21, said he would like people to reach out to their MPs to demand bail reform.

Peel Regional Police said the accused, a 58-year-old Mississauga man, was released on bail on the condition that he not drive a motor vehicle. At the time of the crash on July 5, police said, he had five previous impaired driving convictions dating back to 2010 and was on three separate lifetime driving bans.

Arshad said he couldn't believe the accused was released on bail. He said what happened to his son was terrible enough but when he learned about the bail, he felt it added "insult to injury" because the man most likely shouldn't have been on the road.

"I don't understand what the thinking there was. My son's going to be here for probably months, if we're lucky. And this guy was out the next day, enjoying his family, doing what he does every day and potentially putting his little incident behind him," he said. "We were very disappointed.

"We are very angry that he had this opportunity to potentially do it again. It's very discouraging," he added.

"We need to keep these guys in jail and show them that we're serious. This is a serious thing that they are doing. They are taking people's lives in their hands.... The justice system has to realize that by letting this guy out, he's putting other people at risk now."

The accused has been charged with one count of impaired driving causing bodily harm, one count of driving with excess blood alcohol and three counts of prohibited driving.

Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, accused people in Canada have the right to bail unless there is a very compelling reason to keep them in custody. Granting them bail means they can remain out of jail, often with specific conditions, while their case moves through the justice system — a process that can take many months.

Several provincial governments and police associations have been calling upon the federal government to re-examine and revise the bail system. Advocates have pointed out the vast majority of people in Ontario jails have been denied bail and are awaiting trial. 

Gabriel has been at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre since the crash. He was driving on Highway 50 between Brampton and Bolton when he was struck. The crash, involving four vehicles, happened at the intersection of Highway 50 and Coleraine Drive around 4:15 p.m.

In a news release on July 10, Peel Regional Police said Gabriel is likely to have "long-term life-altering injuries." Two other people were injured.

Arshad said he is hoping for the best and his son remains in a coma and has had three surgeries already to fix the damage to his stomach.

"But he's still got a bunch of stuff to go. He's got a bunch of broken bones and, unfortunately, some serious head injury that he has to try to get overcome."