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33864

Her Majesty the Queen v. Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.

(Federal) (Criminal) (As of Right)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2011-04-21 Appeal closed
2011-04-21 Formal judgment sent to the registrar of the court of appeal and all parties
2011-04-21 Judgment on appeal and notice of deposit of judgment sent to all parties
2011-04-12 Transcript received, (67 pages)
2011-04-01 Judgment on the appeal rendered, CJ Bi De F Cha Ro Cro, The appeal from the judgment of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, Number CMAC-517, 2010 CMAC 7, dated August 20, 2010, heard on March 24, 2011, is allowed. The sentence imposed by the trial judge is restored.
Allowed
2011-03-24 Judgment reserved OR rendered with reasons to follow
2011-03-24 Hearing of the appeal, 2011-03-24, CJ Bi De F Cha Ro Cro
Judgment reserved
2011-03-24 Acknowledgement and consent for video taping of proceedings, All parties consented
2011-03-24 Respondent's condensed book, Filed in Court Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.
2011-03-24 Appellant's condensed book, Filed in Court Her Majesty the Queen
2011-03-16 Correspondence received from, Mr. Pelletier rec'd by fax re: omission of lines at page 24 of the electronic factum - new cd rec'd Her Majesty the Queen
2011-03-09 Notice of appearance, François Baril and Guy Régimbald will be appearing Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.
2011-03-08 Notice of appearance, Martin Pelletier and Mario Léveillée will be present at the hearing - original rec'd Mar. 14/11 Her Majesty the Queen
2011-03-01 Appeal perfected for hearing
2011-02-25 Respondent's book of authorities, CD rec'd March 2/11, Completed on: 2011-03-04 Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.
2011-02-25 Respondent's factum, CD rec'd Mar. 2/11, Completed on: 2011-03-04 Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.
2010-12-13 Appellant's book of authorities, Completed on: 2010-12-13 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-12-13 Appellant's record, Completed on: 2010-12-13 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-12-13 Appellant's factum, Completed on: 2010-12-13 Her Majesty the Queen
2010-11-16 Notice of hearing sent to parties
2010-11-16 Appeal hearing scheduled, 2011-03-24, (start time 9:30)
Judgment reserved
2010-10-06 Notice of change of counsel, from Mr. Bernatchez to Mr. Baril Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.
2010-10-04 Letter advising the parties of tentative hearing date and filing deadlines (Notice of appeal – As of right)
2010-09-20 Notice of appeal, Completed on: 2010-09-20 Her Majesty the Queen

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Her Majesty the Queen Appellant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Ex-Pte St-Onge, D. Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Her Majesty the Queen

Counsel
J.B.M. Pelletier
Steven D. Richards
Mario Léveillée
Service canadien des poursuites militaires
305, rue Rideau, 9e étage
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K2
Telephone: (613) 996-2684
FAX: (613) 995-1840
Email: martin.pelletier@forces.gc.ca

Party: Ex-Pte St-Onge, D.

Counsel
François Baril
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
160 Elgin Street
Suite 2600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 783-8804
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: francois.baril@gowlingwlg.com
Agent
Brian A. Crane, Q.C.
Gowling WLG (Canada) LLP
2600 - 160 Elgin St
Box 466 Station D
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1C3
Telephone: (613) 233-1781
FAX: (613) 563-9869
Email: brian.crane@gowlingwlg.com

Summary

Keywords

None.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Armed forces - Military offences - Criminal law - Sentencing - Respondent pleading guilty to four disciplinary offences and unauthorized possession of marijuana - Military judge sentencing Respondent to 30 days’ imprisonment - Appeal Court substituting fine for prison sentence - Whether majority of Court Martial Appeal Court erred in substituting its own balancing of relevant sentencing factors for that of military judge.

The Respondent, a former member of the Canadian Forces, pleaded guilty to four disciplinary offences and one criminal offence, namely possession of cannabis. After considering the nature of the offences, all the aggravating and mitigating factors, the offender’s mindset regarding all of the offences both at the time he committed them and at the time he was sentenced, and the need to protect the public and maintain discipline, the military judge found that a term of imprisonment was the only adequate sanction. He sentenced the Respondent to 30 days’ imprisonment. The majority of the Court Martial Appeal Court allowed the Respondent’s appeal against the severity of the sentence and substituted a $3,000 fine for the prison sentence. Cournoyer J.A., dissenting, would have dismissed the appeal on the ground that there was no basis for concluding that the military judge had exercised his discretion unreasonably or made a reviewable error in principle.

Lower court rulings

August 20, 2010
Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada

CMAC-517, 2010 CMAC 7

Voir dossier

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Factums on appeal

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

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Date modified: 2025-02-27