Ontario Court of Justice
ONTARIO COURT OF JUSTICE DATE: 2020-10-02 COURT FILE No.: BETWEEN: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN — AND — Sherry Turtle, Audrey TURTLE, Loretta TURTLE, Cherilee TURTLE, Rocelyn R. MOOSE, Tracy STRANG Before Justice D. Gibson Heard on May 7, July 30, November 26, November 29, 2019, May 20, June 23, 2020 Reasons for Judgment released on October 2, 2020 Rebecca Senior ..........................................................................counsel for the Crown Daniel Guttman, Estee Garfin………………………..……….counsel for the Attorney General of Ontario – Civil Law Division – Constitutional Law Branch Jonathan Rudin…………………………………...counsel for Aboriginal Legal Services Luke Hildebrand…………………………………….counsel for Pikangikum First Nation John Bilton…………………counsel for Sherry TURTLE, Audrey TURTLE, Loretta TURTLE, Rocelyn R. Moose Karen Seeley………………………………………………………….counsel for Cherilee TURTLE, Tracy STRANG Gibson, D.: 1. Sherry Turtle, Audrey Turtle, Loretta Turtle, Cherilee Turtle, Rocelyn R Moose and Tracey Strang are all band members of the Pikangikum First Nation and each of them live, together with their young children, on the First Nation Territory of Pikangikum. 2. Each of these accused has pled guilty to a drinking and driving offense that, in their circumstances, carries with it a mandatory minimum jail sentence of not more than ninety days. — 2 — 3. The parties to these proceedings agree it would be open to each of these accused, in the normal course, to request an order of this Court allowing them to serve their sentences intermittently. Indeed, the Crown has acknowledged they would not oppose such requests. 4. The challenge for these defendants is that the Pikangikum First Nation Territory is an isolated fly in community hundreds of kilometers from the nearest district jail in the City of Kenora and it is financially and logistically prohibitive for them to travel to and from there, from weekend to weekend, at their own expense, to serve out their sentences.
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