Thibault appeals 18- month prison sentence
QUEBEC The lawyer for ex- Quebec lieutenant- governor Lise Thibault argued in favour of a lighter sentence for his client Friday, telling the province’s Court of Appeal the trial judge erred in sentencing her to 18 months in jail for fraud and breach of trust.
Marc Labelle told a panel of three appellate judges that Thibault should be allowed to serve the 18- month sentence in the community, while the Crown countered the former vice- regal’s sentence should be increased to four years in jail.
The Court of Appeal will deliberate on the matter before rendering a decision.
Labelle t old reporters t hat Quebec court Judge Carol St- Cyr should not have put the emphasis on making an example of Thibault strictly because of her position as the Queen’s representative in the province between 1997 and 2007.
“The judge committed two principal errors: He gave too much importance to the deterrent aspect of the sentence, and secondly he applied a section of the criminal code that did not exist at the time of the commission of the offence,” Labelle said.
He said the section in question specified that mitigating factors should not be considered in cases like Thibault’s.
Labelle added that the judge should have taken into greater consideration how much negative media attention his client received before and during her trial.
“( The attention) went too far,” he said. “She received coverage that was not restrained. In our opinion, the reporting served to humiliate her.”
Prosecutor Marcel Guimont argued Thibault should be given a four- year jail term due to the severity of the offences and degree of premeditation.
Guimont said Thibault’s behaviour sullied the reputation of “all of Quebec and Canada’s institutions.”
“Regarding matters of fraud and breach of trust by people in positions of authority, the penalty is imprisonment,” he said.
Thibault pleaded guilty in December 2014 after a 2007 report by the federal and provincial auditors general revealed she claimed more than $ 700,000 in improper expenses when she held the viceregal post.
These included sums for family activities, parties, a trip to a sugar shack, and golf and ski outings.
She was sentenced last September, but was freed after spending six nights behind bars.
In sentencing Thibault, St- Cyr called her behaviour “highly reprehensible” and part of a “culture of deceit.” Thibault was also ordered to pay back $ 300,000.
Labelle said he asked the Court of Appeal to take into consideration that Thibault was the first lieutenant- governor without an official residence, which meant her expenses were calculated differently than those of her predecessors.
Previously, Labelle has said Thibault’s case was unique, partly because she is 76, is confined to a wheelchair and has health problems, including anxiety attacks.
Thibault has cited her status as a handicapped woman to justify expenses associated with her transportation, activities and security.