Overview

• Judge Magali Lepage reduced Frank Paris’s drug-trafficking sentence to two years after a defence report detailed the impact of systemic racism on his life.
• Paris pleaded guilty to cannabis and hashish trafficking and was released immediately after receiving credit for time served.
• Christopher Skeete said considering race in sentencing could institutionalize unequal treatment under the law.
• The minister signaled he will pursue legislative or policy changes to restrict judicial leniency based on a defendant’s racial background.
• The case highlights tensions between judicial discretion and government efforts to address systemic racism in Canada’s justice system.