COLUMN: Think Again – Serial killers belong in jail for life

Anyone convicted of first-degree murder in Canada receives an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. At least that’s how it used to be.

Last week, the B.C. Supreme Court struck down that section of the Criminal Code. The reason? It’s unconstitutional for everyone who commits first-degree murder to receive the same sentence regardless of how many people they kill.

In other words, the court ruled that it’s unfair for someone who kills one person to have the same parole ineligibility period as someone who kills four people. On that point, I agree with the court. While both acts are horrendous, it is objectively worse to kill four people than it is to kill one person.

However, the court went astray when it struck down the minimum 25-year period of parole ineligibility. There’s a reason why first-degree murder is considered the most horrific crime—it’s the only category of murder that involves premeditation. Someone who plans to murder another person and then carries it out deserves a very long prison sentence indeed.

The case before the B.C. Supreme Court was particularly gruesome. On Aug. 31, 2021, Luciano Mariani broke into the home of his former partner, Caroline Bernard, and beat her to death with a baseball bat. He then left her body to be discovered by her young daughter.

Mariani planned this murder for months, as evidenced by his multiple internet searches for phrases such as “when you wanna kill your ex” and “time needed to kill someone with a baseball bat.” This was a premeditated killing, and Mariani deserved a lengthy sentence.

Of course, it would have been even worse if Mariani had killed multiple people that day. The way to deal with this discrepancy, however, is to allow for longer prison sentences for multiple murders.

Simply put, someone who kills multiple people should have a longer parole ineligibility period—all the way up to life in prison with no chance of parole. Stephen Harper’s Conservative government did exactly that in 2011 when it amended the Criminal Code to allow judges to stack up parole ineligibility periods for multiple counts of first-degree murder. That is why Quebec mosque shooter Alexander Bissonnette, who murdered six people in cold blood in 2017, was deemed ineligible for parole for at least 40 years.

Unfortunately, this entirely reasonable amendment to the Criminal Code was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022. In their bizarre decision, the justices decreed that life in prison with no chance of parole amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment.” As a result, serial killers who murder multiple people now receive the exact same punishment as someone who murders only one person.

Sadly, the Trudeau government chose not to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision, which means that it is now impossible for anyone to be sentenced to life in prison. That is why Jeremy Skibicki, who was convicted last summer of murdering four women, will be eligible for his first parole hearing in 2049 when he is only 62 years old.

It’s time to close this loophole. Hopefully, when Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister, he uses the notwithstanding clause to restore the ability of judges to give longer prison sentences to serial killers. These depraved individuals deserve to spend the rest of their life behind bars.

Thus, while it is unfair to give the exact same sentence to someone who kills one person as to someone who kills multiple people, shortening the parole ineligibility period is not the way to fix this problem. Rather, the government must restore the ability of judges to sentence serial killers to life without parole.

Michael Zwaagstra is a high school teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.