Eight-year gap in sentence sought by Crown, defence in impaired driving case
VANCOUVER — The deep-rooted effects of Canada’s residential school system must be considered in the sentencing of a drunk driver who killed three people after mowing down two cyclists on a British Columbia highway two years ago, the man’s lawyer said Wednesday.
Crown counsel is asking that Samuel Alec be handed a 12-year sentence, which Alec’s lawyer, Paul McMurray, said would be the longest ever given to someone responsible for impaired driving causing death in Canada.
Alec, 45, pleaded guilty to three counts of impaired driving causing the deaths of two cyclists, Kelly Blunden and Ross Chafe, as well as Paul Pierre, a friend of Alec’s who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Twelve years is an unfit sentence, especially given the relationship between Alec’s alcoholism and colonialism, McMurray told the court.