First Nation leaders push to close 'loophole' laws after judge stays fatal THC-impaired driving charge
CTV
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) wants to change the Criminal Code of Canada to prioritize victims that are children.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) wants to change the Criminal Code of Canada to prioritize victims that are children.
"We're going to call it Baeleigh's Law," FSIN Fourth Vice Chief Craig McCallum told journalists.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Baeleigh Maurice was walking her scooter along a Saskatoon crosswalk when she was hit and killed by Taylor Kennedy's truck.
At the crash scene, Kennedy told officers she vaped marijuana and micro-dosed magic mushrooms the day prior.
Kennedy was charged with impaired driving exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC, causing death. On Dec. 13, a judge stayed the charge against Kennedy because she was not tried within a reasonable time.
Matters at Canadian provincial courts must reach a conclusion by 18 months. The judge ruled Kennedy's matter took about 24 months.
"We at the FSIN are going to ... seriously look at the laws that allowed something like this to happen, that allowed a loophole to take precedence over the life of a child," McCallum said during a press conference, sitting beside Maurice's mother.
