Graham James’ sentence shows problems with Canadian justice system

MARCH 20, 2012 was a bleak day for the Canadian justice system. In the left corner, facing four counts of sexual assault charges and nine pending accusations from former players stood second-time offender and former youth hockey coach Graham James. In the right corner, walking away from 30 years of silence and still recovering from 150 separate incidences of sexual assault at James’ hands stood current NHL star Theoren Fleury and his cousin Todd Holt, both former youth league players on the accused’s team.
James was not always known to the public as a pedophile. The long-time junior hockey coach boasted an illustrious career spanning over 20 years, during which he and his teams secured numerous championship titles. Celebrated for his coaching abilities, James was named Man of the Year by Toronto magazine the Hockey News in 1989.

It wasn’t until 1996 that James’ career as a coach came to a screeching halt when he was accused of the long time sexual abuse of former NHL star Sheldon Kennedy and another unnamed player. He plead guilty and served over three years in prison for his offences.

After being granted an official pardon and relocating outside of Canada, only to be accused of further abuses by Fleury and Holt, James received his final sentence in a Manitoba courtroom just last week. It all came down to a 30-page decision, which took the presiding Manitoba Provincial Court Judge, Catherine Carlson, over an hour to read out.

Of the of the six years the plaintiffs’ attorney was requesting (the maximum sentence being 10 years), Carlson chose to reduce James’ sentence to a mere two years in a federal prison.

James’ previous stint in the big house was considered an important factor in Carlson’s sentencing. According to the judge, Fleury and Holt should have teamed up with Kennedy 15 years ago in order to secure adequate sentencing. Together the complaints could have raked up a sentence of six years, but separately they were no match for James and his previous three and a half year sentence.
The fact that James had hung up his pedophilic gloves in 1994 and had received 32 hours of treatment also earned him some brownie points with the judge. The media scrutiny the former coach endured throughout the trial was used to justify his lighter sentence. Next time you’re on trial, ladies and gents, make sure to blush—the results may be astounding.

Judging by the public outcry immediately following the trial, it’s safe to say this sentence makes a mockery of the Canadian justice system. For years of sexual abuse against minors, James was handed what can only be called a Santa Clause sentence: After serving one-third of his sentence, he will be eligible for conditional release, just in time for the holidays!

What’s worse is this type of decision is not uncommon in Canada—pedophiles rarely get more than two or three years of jail time, and that isn’t about to change.

When asked by the Star about amendments to Bill C-10’s sentencing provisions, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson responded, “This new legislation ensures any form of child sexual abuse will mean jail time.”

While it may be true that mandatory minimums for sexual crimes against children have been raised to one year, our well-to-do prime minister and his beloved Bill C-10 seem more focused on nabbing pot growers than child rapists. The bill allocates stronger minimum sentences for growing as little as six marijuana plants for the purpose of trafficking than for forcing a child to watch pornography or showing children your genitalia.

If this country really wants to get tough on crime, it needs to start by protecting our most vulnerable members. That means women, Aboriginal Peoples, prostitutes, and most of all, children.

It starts on the Hill. But in the meantime, judges have an important role to play.

“A national travesty.” That is what Fleury and Holt are calling former coach Graham James’ ridiculously low sentence. Hell, that’s what we’re all calling it. We demand a rematch!

—Renée Syrenne