By Canadian Press

Supreme Court of Canada hears appeal of sentence for Quebec City mosque shooter

Mar 24, 2022 | 1:38 PM

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada is considering whether the gunman who killed six men in a rampage at a Quebec City mosque in 2017 can be sentenced to more than 25 years in prison without the chance of parole.

Alexandre Bissonnette was originally sentenced to 40 years after pleading guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder, but Quebec’s highest court reduced that to 25 years on appeal.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner today questioned Quebec Crown prosecutor François Gaudin on whether the consecutive sentences he’s seeking amount to a request for a death sentence for Bissonnette, since the killer would be 77 when his prison term ended.

Gaudin argued that consecutive sentences totalling 50 years of parole ineligibility are the only way to reflect the seriousness of Bissonnette’s crimes.

In sentencing Bissonnette in 2019, a Quebec Superior Court judge rewrote a 2011 federal law that granted courts the right to impose consecutive sentences in blocks of 25 years for multiple murders, saying the law amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

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The Court of Appeal agreed that consecutive sentencing violated the charter but decided the lower court judge erred in granting the killer a 40-year sentence and instead opted for a 25-year period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2022.

The Canadian Press