FSIN, legal experts call for change after charges against driver stayed in death of Baeleigh Maurice

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is calling for a change to the Criminal Code of Canada to prioritize child victims of crime, after a Saskatchewan provincial court judge stayed a charge related to the 2021 death of a nine-year-old Saskatoon girl.

The decision has sparked outrage from not just the federation, but from the girl's family and an Indigenous lawyer as well.

On Sept. 9, 2021, Baeleigh Maurice was walking her scooter along a crosswalk in Saskatoon when she was hit and killed by a truck driven by Taylor Kennedy.

After the crash, Kennedy told police she vaped marijuana and micro-dosed magic mushrooms the day before. She was charged with impaired driving exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC, causing death.

But on Dec. 13, Judge Jane Wootten stayed the charge because she was not tried within a reasonable time, defined by the Supreme Court of Canada in a 2016 decision as 18 months between charge and the actual or anticipated end of a trial in provincial court.

Kennedy's matter took approximately 24 months, the judge said.

A stay of proceedings means the case has been put on hold, but it doesn't mean it's been dropped. The court can later lift the stay and continue the proceedings.

The FSIN said it has developed a proposal, called "Baeleigh's Law," to prevent a repeat of this case. It suggests giving child victims "enhanced consideration" in the courts and introducing protections against procedural delays — including regularly scheduled case management hearings with explanations for any delays.

The federation also wants impaired driving laws re-evaluated to keep pace with the risks posed by various substances, and enhanced sentencing for child fatalities involving impairment.

It's also calling for a flat prohibition on charges being stayed in child death cases.

Colton Fehr, an assistant professor at the college of law at the University of Saskatchewan, said he believes possible changes to how these cases are handled should be considered.

"In these delay cases, one of the fundamental issues that I think is being overlooked post-Jordan [the 2016 case that established the precedent] is whether a stay of proceedings still should be the automatic remedy," Fehr said.

He noted that Section 11 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the right for a trial to be heard "within a reasonable time."

Even if a fair trial could still be pursued, which he believes would be the case with Kennedy, proceedings must still be stayed if the delay has been too long, Fehr said.