Mi’kmaq son robbed pharmacy to be in prison with dad

A Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq man who robbed a Halifax pharmacy of prescription pills in a bid to be with his father in prison has been sentenced to probation and community service.

In a written decision released Monday, a Halifax provincial court judge sentenced Jason Wesley Syliboy, now 47 years old, to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service, a curfew for two years and a $200 victim surcharge.

Judge Amy Amy Sakalauskas said in her decision, delivered orally in September 2018, that while the standard sentence for such robberies in the province is between two and three years in prison, the unique circumstances of this case allowed for a punishment that didn't include jail time.

Crown attorney Chris Nicholson and defence lawyer Jonathan Hughes had presented a joint recommendation on the sentence.

On May 28, 2017, Syliboy went into the Shoppers Drug Mart on Spring Garden Road in Halifax and asked the pharmacist for and pen and paper, which he used to write a note demanding hydromorphone and saying he didn't want to resort to violence.

He took the drugs and walked out of the store without any urgency, then waited for police to arrive and told them they were looking for him and showed them the drugs.

Police arrested Syliboy and he gave them a three-page statement.

The judge said in her decision that Syliboy wanted to be arrested so he would be held at the Burnside jail, where his father was awaiting a court appearance. The father, who Syliboy said had heart issues, had never been in jail before that.

Syliboy spent 32 days on remand before his release.

A sentencing circle was set up by the Mi'kmaw Legal Support

Network in February 2018, and the recommendations from that were similar to the recommendation from the Crown and defence.

“A suspended sentence is a reasonable alternative to custody for Mr. Syliboy,” the judge wrote. “If he breaches the probation order attached to it, or gets more convictions, I can amend it, extend it, or revoke it and impose a new sentence. A probation term of three years is a significant period for Mr. Syliboy to be subject to these possibilities.”

She said Syliboy's crime was a “low-end robbery, with exceptional background motive.”

By committing a crime to be jailed, Syliboy was manipulating the justice system, the judge wrote.

“It is a careless act done by someone not mindful of the potential impact on victims, while taking up important resources from the criminal justice system," she said.

“I also see it a different way, in that his moral culpability is reduced given his distrust and alienation from this system, resultant from his experiences as an Indigenous person and the colonial history of the system itself.”

She said Syliboy's life circumstances as an Indigenous person have included poverty, violence, substance abuse, and mental health concerns on reserve, suicide of family members and his mother's loss of status (for a period) after marrying Syliboy's father, who was non-native.

Syliboy still needs to be held accountable, the judge said, but in a more holistic manner than prison.

“It was a unique situation that caused Mr. Syliboy to walk into the pharmacy that day, and one that is not likely to repeat itself,” she wrote. “Mr. Syliboy has recognized that his actions were wrong, and this sentence is meant to help ensure he would not make the same choice again.”