The Indigenous defendant breached a Long Term Supervision Order on two separate accounts by consuming prohibited substances. This resulted in just one additional day in custody based on credit for pre-sentence custody and the collateral consequences of COVID-19 in the Toronto South Detention Centre, including the suspension of culturally appropriate programming and activities. Gladue factors contextualized his youth criminal record and indicated a need for restraint.
Indigenous Law Centre – CaseWatch Blog
Mr. Hoshal has pled guilty to two separate counts of breaching the conditions of his Long Term Supervision Order [“LTSO”]. Both breaches involved the consumption of substances prohibited by this order. His risk of violent future re-offence is directly linked to whether he can abstain from the consumption of alcohol and drugs. Breaching an LTSO is not like breaching probation or bail. It is met with significant jail terms. The public loses confidence in the judicial system when offenders breach court-ordered terms. He has been detained at the Toronto South Detention Centre.
Mr. Hoshal’s childhood was mired in trauma, abandonment, and abuse. Mr. Hoshal is forty years old and has a serious criminal record that includes approximately 25 convictions for domestic violence, all rooted in substance misuse and abuse. Mr. Hoshal is a non-status Blackfoot on his father’s side. Upon discovering this Indigenous heritage, he attempted to learn more about it on his own. He twice moved onto a reserve, only to feel isolated and singled out, sometimes violently, because he appeared “white”. The information he has managed to obtain about his Indigenous heritage has largely come from programs in jail. Otherwise, he has been disconnected from his Indigenous culture.
Mr. Hoshal’s punishment must be tempered as much as possible without displacing the fitness of the sentence, by the exercise of restraint. In order to rehabilitate oneself, hope is necessary. The conditions of Mr. Hoshal’s presentence custody, including the COVID-19 consequences, have amplified anxiety and stress, isolated him from supports, and caused him to lose hope. The harsh presentence custody conditions at the TSDC upon Mr. Hoshal personally, and the impact of COVID-19 adds to the already deplorable conditions. Mr. Hoshal’s global sentence of 14 months less presentence custody remains fit and within the range.