A 79-year-old man was sentenced to a nine-month conditional sentence and a one-year driving prohibition after striking four people with a pickup truck at a 2022 residential school march in Mission.
Richard Albert Manuel was found guilty of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in Abbotsford provincial court in September and Judge Edna Ritchie provided her sentence on Monday (Nov. 4).
Manuel currently lives in Nova Scotia and would serve his sentence in the community with a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. for the first six months. The driving prohibition is nationwide.
"I'm just sorry for this whole thing," Manuel said when asked by the judge if he had anything to say.
The judge said she took Manuel's age and lack of criminal record into account, but was not satisfied he was "truly remorseful". She said Manuel acted "very badly" that day and took into account the victim impact statements provided by the Crown.
"You feel you're not prejudiced, but the persons hearing those remarks –especially as you drove in the manner you did – didn't know that you were perhaps, in your view, really impatient. They heard ugliness, and they saw your driving," Ritchie said.
The incident occurred on June 4, 2022 during a March for Recognition to raise awareness about children who attended residential schools.
The march left Fraser River Heritage Park and was en route along Lougheed Highway to the former site of St. Mary’s Residential School where four people reported being struck with a pickup truck.
In her reasons for judgment on Sept. 23, Ritchie said Manuel, who lived in Deroche at the time, drove on the shoulder of Lougheed Highway, ignored the instructions of the flagger, and hit him with his truck instead of tolerating the delay.
After the flagger was hit, the judge said two or three men involved with the march attempted to take Manuel's keys and a physical altercation ensued.
Per the judgment, Manuel re-entered traffic and clipped another individual. Members of the "Crazy Indian Brotherhood" attempted to stop Manuel but his truck hit two of them. However, the judge was not satisfied Manuel hit the two men deliberately.
"Manuel expressed his anger throughout the period by yelling about permits and uttering racial slurs and saying that he didn't care if he ran people, including children, over," the judge said.
According to the judge's summary, Manuel said in testimony that if someone mucks with his truck or his family, he doesn't care how big they are.
The judge said during her decision that she wasn't satisfied with the defence's stance that Manuel was driving in a manner that was justified by "defence of necessity". Ritchie said she did not believe critical aspect's of Manuel's evidence.
The trial began March 4 in Abbotsford provincial court with police witnesses testifying about the accused’s statements before another pair of witnesses testified that they were hit by a pickup truck near the entrance to St. Mary’s Residential School.
