Supreme Court

R. v. Boucher, 2003 NWTSC 02
Date: 20030122
Docket: S-1-CR2002000081

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

IN THE MATTER OF:


HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN


- vs. -


RONALD ARTHUR BOUCHER


Transcript of the Oral Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice V.A. Schuler, at Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, on January 13th A.D., 2003.


APPEARANCES:

Mr. A. Fox:   Counsel for the Crown

Mr. J. Brydon:   Counsel for the Accused


Charge under s. 267(a), s. 85(1) (a) Criminal Code


THE COURT:   In the matter of Ronald Arthur Boucher, Mr. Boucher has pleaded guilty and has been convicted of charges under Section 267(a), assault with a weapon, and 85(1)(a), use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence.

Briefly the facts are that while out in his boat with some friends, Mr. Boucher came upon the complainant, who was in another boat, travelling slowly due to mechanical difficulties. The complainant had, some two months previous, finished serving a sentence for beating up Mr. Boucher's son. Mr. Boucher told others in his boat that he was going to “scare” the complainant, and he chambered a round in his rifle and pointed in the complainant's direction and fired.

There is some dispute about exactly how close the bullet came to the complainant but it did not hit his boat and the complainant says that Mr. Boucher appeared to point away from him just before firing.

Mr. Boucher is described as an accomplished marksman from which I infer that he felt that he could control the gun and the bullet and as stated in the Agreed Statement of Facts, if he had intended to hit the complainant he could have done so.

After the shot, Mr. Boucher circled the complainant's boat in his, pointed the rifle at him

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again for 10 to 15 seconds, and uttered threats to the complainant. He then left the area.

Another boat came along and towed the complainant's boat to shore where the RCMP were called. The complainant, understandably, was very scared and extremely upset to the point that, as he described it at the preliminary hearing, he was having trouble breathing.

Mr. Boucher spent four months in remand before being released in October.

He has a Grade 8 education and is 48 years old. He has trapped and hunted since approximately age 13. He is a widower with two adult children. During the winters, he obtains employment in construction, labor, and wood cutting and during the summer he guides. He hunts and traps to provide for himself, his family, and elders in the community of Fort Resolution. He is a member of the Canadian Rangers.

His only previous criminal conviction was 25 years ago and is unrelated so I will consider him as a first--time offender for purposes of this case.

I take into account the fact that he has pleaded guilty and also that he has spent the four months on remand for which I credit eight.

I also take into account that Mr. Boucher is an aboriginal person and that, as described, he is accustomed to life in the bush. Of course, being

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accustomed to life in the bush and being well acquainted with firearms, there is no question that Mr. Boucher should have known and should know how dangerous they are and that people who use them have to show a high degree of responsibility.

Based on his background, I have no reason to think that Mr. Boucher is not a responsible individual. Unfortunately on this occasion, he acted very irresponsibly and dangerously because no matter how good a shot he is, the consequences could have been much worse.

No matter what the complainant had done to Mr. Boucher's son, to, in effect, take the law into his own hands by trying to add to the sentence that the complainant had served, by scaring him in this fashion, is not acceptable and, as I have said, could have had terrible consequences beyond just the emotional harm this obviously caused to the complainant.

I'm sure that Mr. Boucher realizes that what he did was not just dangerous, it was a very very foolish thing to have done. As a hunter, particularly as a Canadian Ranger, Mr. Boucher, you set an example for others and using guns to scare people doesn't, I'm sure you realize, set the right example. And I think that's one thing that you should keep in mind. I think that's one of the very

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tragic things, when firearms are used improperly, is the issue of the example that it sets for others.

I can't help but think recently of a case, and it has nothing to do with Mr. Boucher's case but certainly it has been in the news recently, a case in Ontario where a 6-year-old shot and killed her 7-year-old brother with a firearm that they found in their home. Now, obviously that's got nothing to do with the facts of your case but as I say, when adults, when responsible people use firearms improperly, one of the tragic consequences may be that others see that and decide to imitate it, and that's something that you should keep in mind in the future in terms of your own conduct around firearms, that you may be, even if not intentionally, leading others to do what you do or to imitate what you do. I'm sure that you realize the foolishness and the dangerousness of what you did and I accept from your guilty plea, and also the apology that you made here in Court, that you are sorry for what you did.

Stand, please, Mr. Boucher.

The sentence that I impose on you is, with respect to the charge under Section 267(a), one day in jail. With respect to the charge under Section 85(1) (a), taking into account the remand time, I'm going to impose the minimum which would be four months consecutive. And I'm also, on the

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Section 267 charge, going to place you on probation for a period of one year.

The standard condition, that you keep the peace and be of good behaviour, will apply but the main reason that I'm putting you on probation and, counsel, if you want to assist me with the wording of this condition, is because I want you to take a firearm safety course and to arrange that through Renewable Resources. So perhaps the best way to do that is to say that you will report to a probation officer within five days of your release for the purposes of making arrangements to attend the firearm safety course, and I'm assuming, I hope that I'm not assuming too much, that that could be done through Renewable Resources or the RCMP. I don't know who exactly would be the right entity but it seems to me that Renewable Resources do have firearm safety courses so they would likely be the ones to do that and that should be arranged through your probation officer.

You can sit down, Mr. Boucher.

With respect to the DNA order, there has been no basis put forward why that order should not be made so I will make that order.

Under Section 110 of the Criminal Code, I must also make a firearm prohibition order which I will do in the standard terms. That order will commence

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today and will expire ten years from your release from imprisonment.

Now, I have considered the question of granting the authorization under Section 113 of the Criminal Code and considering the lack of any record, any related record, considering your lifestyle, and despite the fact that this is a firearm offence, and because what has been said convinces me that you are generally a responsible person who should be given a chance to continue to pursue the lifestyle that you have pursued, and because I'm satisfied that you will act responsibly and that the safety of other people will not be compromised, I do accept that you need a firearm to hunt or trap for sustenance or employment and accordingly I will make the order under Section 113 authorizing a chief firearms officer or the registrar to issue an authorization license or registration certificate to you for sustenance or employment purposes. So they will be able to issue a license for you to have a firearm for those purposes.

Now, counsel, is there anything with respect to the probation condition that I have perhaps overlooked or may not work well?

MR. FOX:   The only thing that I can think of is that, just from personal experience taking a firearm safety course, it's not that easily arranged

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sometimes. I'm not sure what is being done or what is actually available. But presumably as long as Mr. Boucher takes all reasonable steps to comply with that order, if there are no courses that he can take reasonably, then perhaps that could be brought back to Court. But one of the frustrations with the current system is that there is not a lot of resources available for taking firearm safety courses. There is one outfit in Yellowknife that provides them for a fee but it is a privately run organization. I'm not sure what, if anything, RWED has to offer.

MR. BRYDON:  Mr. Boucher tells me that Renewable Resources does offer a course in firearm safety. It may not be the one which is necessary for the acquisition -- or what used to be an FAC, it is now an acquisition and possession license. But there are them offered through Renewable Resources he tells me.

THE Court:   Well, I would certainly be satisfied, if it is something that is offered by Renewable Resources, even if it is not perhaps the course that he might have to take for certain purposes, if they have a course I think it never hurts to be reminded of firearm safety so I would be satisfied with that. Did you have something else to suggest?

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MR. FOX:   It just occurs to me, and I'm not  sure what Mr. Boucher's status is in terms of whether he has a new possession acquisition license or one of the old firearm acquisition certificates, because now, under the current regime, he would need to take a course in order to get a possession acquisition license and presumably under the Section 113 authorization, he is going to have to apply for one of those licenses and in doing that, he is going to have to take a course unless he has already taken one in the past.

THE Court:   Well, if he has to take one for that reason, I guess we don't know exactly when that would be, but the probation is a year so my intention is that it be taken within the year of the probation.

What I will do is direct that the probation officer file confirmation with the Court that he has taken a firearm safety course and that a copy of that confirmation be provided to Crown and defence and then if either of you feel there is a need to bring the matter back, you can do that. It seems to me that is probably the best way to do it under the circumstances.

So, in other words, the intention is, Mr. Boucher, that during that year when you are on probation that that is when you will take the

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course. And hopefully that can be arranged through probation and the local firearm officer in Fort Resolution or wherever that may best be arranged.

Now, I will just sign this DNA order.

Is there anything else then, counsel, that I should address?

MR. BRYDON:  I think that you have to consider the Victims of Crime surcharge.

THE Court:   Yes, that will be waived in the circumstances. Anything further?

MR. FOX:   Nothing further from the Crown.

THE Court:   Mr. Brydon?

MR. BRYDON:  Nothing further.

THE Court:   All right, Mr. Boucher, I hope that you have learned from this situation, It's always sad to see someone at your age to be in Court when really you have had a clean record. I certainly hope that we won't see you back in Court again. We will close Court.

(AT WHICH TIME THE ORAL REASONS FOR SENTENCE CONCLUDED)


Certified pursuant to Rule 723 of the Supreme Court Rules.

Lois Hewitt,
Court Reporter

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