Toronto – A former Ontario cabinet minister who committed serious gun offences has escaped with not even a slap on the wrist, but more of a pat on the back.
John Snobelen, an education minister under former Progressive Conservative premier Mike Harris, was treated so leniently ordinary residents are entitled to wonder if there is one law for them and another for those with powerful political connections.
Snobelen was famous for saying he might have to create a crisis to get people to accept a major overhaul of schooling and being absent from the legislature, riding the range at his Oklahoma ranch, and eventually having to give up his MPP’s job for it.
Snobelen bought back, he claims inadvertently, a Colt .22 calibre semi-automatic handgun, failed to register it here and stored it in a bedside drawer with ammunition at his home and four years later his former wife alerted police, who found it.
Snobelen pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice to possession and careless storage of a restricted weapon. The offences are serious because of a huge increase in shooting deaths, particularly in Toronto.
All parties in the legislature have expressed concern handguns are being obtained by criminals too easily, often stolen from homes, and used in killings.
The prosecution pointed out Snobelen’s gun could easily have been stolen from his home and used by criminals.
Judge Stephen Brown took a less pessimistic view. He could have jailed Snobelen, but pointed out he served the community, although many teachers who quit, saying he made their jobs more difficult, would disagree.
The judge said a former minister does not deserve preferential treatment, but should not be treated more harshly than others.
The judge heard Snobelen would have difficulty entering the United States, where he teaches horse management, if a criminal conviction was registered against him, so he gave him an absolute discharge, which meant no conviction was registered.
You may think politicians appalled at the increase in handguns being stolen and used to kill would object strenuously to this.
But the Conservatives, who claim constantly theirs is the only party concerned with maintaining law and order, were not about to complain a court dealt too leniently with a friend who once sat beside them and had no criticism.
Liberal government MPPs did not protest, because they did not want to appear vindictive to a former opponent and some also may have felt they may need leniency themselves one day.
Only New Democrat House leader Peter Kormos questioned the judge’s decision and suggested it would be no deterrent to those who leave guns and ammunition lying around where they can be stolen and used in crime.
Attorney General Christopher Bentley replied he trusts the courts, the latest in a series of stands in which he has proven unwilling to quarrel with debatable decisions made by the legal system.
Are people with political connections sometimes treated better by the courts and legal system than the rest of us?
Some have been, including Alan Eagleson, a former MPP, president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Association, intimate of several premiers and a celebrity outside politics as an agent for hockey players and organizer of some of that sport’s greatest international tournaments.
Eagleson after many delays was charged and jailed in Canada for fraud, but never would have been if authorities in the United States had not pushed Canadians to act, and his 18 months’ sentence was meager compared to his offences.
John Brown, a former New Democrat MPP, was sentenced to three years’ jail for defrauding the province in billing for homes he ran for emotionally disturbed children and Conservative former Deputy-Speaker Terry Jones was sentenced to six months for defrauding investors in land schemes he said would triple their money.
No-one is suggesting Snobelen should have gone to jail, but not many people accused of serious offences are lucky enough to be sentenced by a judge who is anxious not to disturb their travel plans.
Eric Dowd is a veteran member of the Queen’s Park press gallery.
