Two former members of the Farfadaas opposition group to health measures, Steeve Charland and Karol Tardif, found guilty of blocking the Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine tunnel in March 2021, obtained a suspended sentence accompanied by 120 hours of community service for their participation in the mischief and conspiracy.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné described the sentence as “lenient” and praised the “restraint” of Crown lawyer Martin Bourgeois, who had proposed this avenue. The two co-defendants, who have no criminal history, were asking for a discharge.
The Farfadaas had blocked the tunnel in March 2021, on the sidelines of a demonstration against health measures. The defendants maintained that this gesture was intended to denounce the police brutality which occurred earlier during the demonstration in downtown Montreal. However, their gesture was made “without worrying about the feeling of intimidation potentially felt by users”, ruled the judge. “Streets, sidewalks, squares and parks” are the historic gathering places for such protests, he pointed out, but bridges and tunnels have “no historic use for expressive purposes.” »
Judge Gagné pointed out that Mr.me Tardif and Mr. Charland are activists who want to “denounce the phenomenon of single thought”. “They are free to do so, but within the parameters of the law,” he said, before thanking the two co-defendants for their cooperation and courtesy throughout the trial.
The case of Mario Roy heard in October
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Mario Roy
The magistrate will now have to look into the case of Mario Roy, whom he said he was considering, during the sentencing of Mr. Charland and Mr.me Late, like the “first violin” and the “leader” of the demonstration in the tunnel.
The Crown has indicated that it will claim between 90 days and six months in prison for Mr. Roy. The latter tried, during his representations on sentence in June, to file an expert opinion from the psychiatrist Pierre Mailloux, who would explain, according to a brief summary made by the Crown lawyer before the judge, that he suffers from stress post-traumatic resulting from an incarceration of several months, in the spring and summer of 2021. This incarceration followed a charge of criminal harassment against a lawyer from the Bar, in a completely different case. He has since been acquitted of that charge following a jury trial, and has announced his intention to sue the state for the damages he says he suffered. In the halls of the courthouse, Mr. Roy also said he suffered from scoliosis, a “medical condition” which would be harmful to him in the event of incarceration.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné showed signs of impatience with Mr. Roy, who had not issued a subpoena to Dr.r Mailloux during the June hearing. Given the absence of the expert witness in the courtroom, the representations on sentence were postponed to October. “I’m not going to put it off to another date,” warned the magistrate for Mario Roy, who is representing himself without a lawyer. “Don’t push your luck, added Judge Gagné. It is a priority. There are rules for expert testimony. »