Ruminations: Going Easy on Indigenous Offenders

"I've been in and out of this courtroom since I was twelve years old and it's not a good thing. I don't want to see my children having to be put through this circle of relapse and my recidivism."
"I've learned to calm my anger a little bit. I've learned to continue to work on myself a little bit spiritually. I've learned to look at where I come from and the person I'm supposed to be spiritually."
"And sometimes it's hard understanding what was done to my people and what continues to be done to our people as a whole."
Troy Wolfe, 34, habitual criminal, London, Ontario

"...You've given impassioned speeches to this court before. Judges in this court have heard from you before and ... nothing has happened."
"And so, I ask you this: what were you accomplishing when you drove two people with sledge hammers to Gordons Gold, allowed them to smash the [show]cases, take half-a-million-dollars' worth of jewellery and then escape?"
"What were you accomplishing for you and your people at that point? What deep-rooted concerns were you dealing with?'
"That's an issue simply of greed. You didn't care who you hurt. You didn't care what happened to them. You wanted the money."
"You've been in what I would describe as a cyclical period of recidivism and reoffending. Every time you get out, you commit another offence."
Justice Bruce Thomas, regional senior justice, Superior Court, London Courtrooom

This 'from the heart' appeal from an Indigenous man who at age 34 had amassed a long list of law-breaking as a familiar figure to the local police force and to the justices serving the community has gone rather stale. The words and the purported passion behind them can no longer serve the purpose intended for them, since the speaker has time and again returned to his life of crime and the little speech, well rehearsed, is no longer of any interest as a screen for criminal activities. The real screen needless to say, is his aboriginal background; as such not much is expected of him. The invocation of 'his people's' travail has been trivialized to serve his purpose.

Those of aboriginal background never fail to remind authorities of that fact. In law and in practise it draws out sympathy. First Nations people in Canada have lived for hundreds of years under a\the oppressive condition of colonialism. Much like indigenous people all around the world. Life in Canada for indigenous people can be what they make of it; for too many, personal motivation is absent while for others it is a spur to a future where they intend to prosper. Mr. Wolfe is not one of the latter.

He spoke of having experienced a brutal childhood, lived in an atmosphere of addiction and alcoholism, the pall that residential schools are held to have cast over his community, the trauma involved in intergenerational relations; above all what he spoke of as the "racial genocide" of his people and "this DNA that we're born with". He informed the court that he has changed. While in prison he developed a curriculum for the assistance of Indigenous inmates to counteract the absent programming in a number of prisons he was committed to.

He was "at a good place in my life. I just wish you guys don't look at me as like a lost cause". Judge Thomas heard him out, then responded complimenting his articulate defense, saying "you put forward a firm understanding of the plight of Indigenous people and the issues of reconciliation that need to be before the court". However, said the judge further, he was glossing over his lack of commitment to what he has said was his changed outlook on life.

This charge and sentencing came in relation to a violent daytime robbery in 2019 when he drove two masked thugs to a jewellery store in northwest London. Equipped with sledge hammers, the thugs smashed show cases while a traumatized staff looked on as the two men finally left with the looted jewellery. In July Wolfe admitted to being the man behind the car's steering wheel, itself stolen at gunpoint. He drove those men to the store and acted as their lookout. The spoils were transferred to a van parked close by where they then drove to Oneida Nation of the Thames.

On the way, a police officer happened to recognize the van as one he associated with Wolfe, and he followed behind. All three men were arrested a short while later as they were wading into the Thames River. But for an earring back and a ring none of the looted valuables was ever recovered. A joint sentencing submission from the Crown and the defence for a seven year sentence found favour with Justice Thomas. Wolfe had already served 67 months awaiting trial in pre-sentencing custody. He now has 15 months left to serve in prison.

Justice Thomas ordered Wolfe to pay $162,500 within the following five years as restitution. One of the two men who snatched the jewellery was also ordered to pay a similar penalty. At age 34, said the judge, Wolfe should focus on doing whatever he can "to stay outside of the penitentiary, to stay outside the reformatory and be with your family and accomplish something". He was reminded of his children who were in the courtroom; it is his responsibility to change.

"If you come back before this court, it only gets worse. So make that decision yourself, do what you have to do. It's not easy. At some point, you have to say 'It's on me now. I've got to do this for my family'."