Woman sentenced for manslaughter

VANCOUVER — A judge in British Columbia has sentenced an Indigenous woman to four years in prison for manslaughter, but says it doesn’t seem right that incarceration was the best available option.

Sadie Taniskishayinew was convicted last October of fatally stabbing 31-year-old Robert Boucher on a Vancouver street in November 2015.

Her trial heard that she and Boucher had been drinking, but there seemed to be little motive for the stabbing and the woman left without calling for help, then tossed the butcher knife into an alley garbage can.

Justice Susan Griffin said in a decision posted this week that Boucher’s death was senseless and addressed his family directly, noting the Indigenous man was killed before his daughter reached her first birthday.

“Mr. Boucher was a valuable person and did not deserve to die, and I have taken into account the value of his life and the loss to his family,” she said. “Far too many Indigenous people die violent deaths in Canada. His life mattered.”

Imposing a fit sentence in the case was a difficult task, considering the background of both the victim and the attacker, Griffin added.

The decision said Taniskishayinew is a 25-yearold Indigenous woman who has experienced significant neglect, trauma and loss, including the death of one of her three children. A report prepared before the sentencing hearing noted her family had attended residential school.