Ten-year sentence may set new standard for drunk driving cases
Although no sentence will ever bring back a Saskatoon family killed by a drunk driver nearly seven months ago, a Saskatoon Crown prosecutor says he hopes the 10-year sentence handed down on Wednesday will set a precedent for similar cases.
“The range in this country up until this year has been disgusting,” Michael Pilon said outside Saskatoon provincial court following the sentencing of Catherine Loye McKay.
“Ten years is a big jump over the seven, seven and a half that have been previously done.”
McKay, 49, pleaded guilty in June to four counts of impaired driving causing the deaths of Jordan Van De Vorst, his wife Chanda, their two-year-old son Miguire and five-year-old daughter Kamryn. Court heard her blood-alcohol level was at least three times the legal limit when she smashed into their car at 105 km/hr. McKay was trying to drive home from a bar in the city’s north end when she ended up crossing Highway 11 from Wanuskewin Road around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 3.
In six decisions Pilon found involving cases where four or five people were killed in a drunk driving crash, the sentences ranged from four to seven and a half years.
The Crown and defence jointly submitted the 10-year sentence to Judge Barry Singer, who imposed the sentence along with a 12-year driving ban to take effect upon McKay’s release. The 10 years does not reflect a two and a half year sentence per person, but rather is concurrent on all four counts — meaning she will serve four 10-year sentences at the same time.
Although public reaction to the sentence has been largely negative, it is one of the longest — if not the longest — impaired driving sentences in the province, according to McKay’s lawyer, Leslie Sullivan.
When deciding on a sentence, both Pilon and Sullivan said they referenced the recent drunk driving case in Ontario in which Marco Muzzo was sentenced to 10 years for killing three children and their grandfather. At the time, legal experts said it was one of the stiffest penalties for impaired driving causing death in Canadian history.
Muzzo had no criminal record, Pilon told court. Sullivan said McKay had no previous drunk driving convictions, but court heard her driving record included eight speeding infractions and three at-fault collisions in addition to the fatal crash.
No sentencing range is laid out in the Criminal Code for impaired driving causing death; rather, prior case law and various factors dictate the kind of sentences imposed. The maximum penalty for impaired driving causing death is life imprisonment, but Sullivan said that penalty is usually reserved for repeat offenders.
Sullivan said McKay knew she needed to go to prison for a long time.
“She said, ‘I don’t care how long it is, it doesn’t matter. I’m in jail for the rest of my life,’ ” Sullivan noted.
Other than leaving one’s vehicle at home, Sullivan said there need to be more ways to prevent someone who is already drunk from driving, like having mandatory ignition breathalyzers in all new vehicles or taking a zero tolerance approach to drinking and driving.
“You’re asking a person who’s already been drinking to make a decision about their level of intoxication, so that the drunks are having to decide whether they are too drunk to drive, which really isn’t constructive at all,” she said.
Since 2012, Saskatchewan has had almost three times the rate of impaired driving incidents compared to the rest of Canada, Pilon said during McKay’s sentencing.
“The statistics in our province are embarrassing. Impaired driving is a scourge on our community. The sentence imposed must make drinking and driving so unappealing, so risky, such a horrible thought that people finally start to plan ahead before consuming that first drink.”