In 2016, Ms. Sharma pleaded guilty to importing two kilograms of cocaine. At the sentencing hearing, Ms. Sharma argued that the CDSA mandatory minimum of two years, and the restrictions on when a conditional sentence is available, or rather not available, were all unconstitutional. The sentencing judge agreed with Ms. Sharma that the two year mandatory minimum sentence under 6(3)(a.1) of the CDSA violated section 12 of the Charter and could not be saved under section 1. Because of this finding, the sentencing judge declined to address the constitutional challenge to the conditional sentencing provisions under the Criminal Code. Ms. Sharma was sentenced to 18 months incarceration, less pre-trial custody. Ms. Sharma is an indegenous woman.The Court of Appeal for Ontario considered the constitutional challenge to the Criminal Code provisions. The Court of Appeal found that sections 742.1(c) and 742.1(e)(ii) of the Criminal Code infringed both section 7 and 15(1) of the Charter, and could not be saved under section 1. The Court of Appeal held an appropriate sentence was a conditional sentence of 24 months less one day. But because at this point Ms. Sharma had completed her custodial sentence, the Court of Appeal substituted a sentence of time served.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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