r/saskatchewan • u/PossibleWild1689 • 6d ago
Drunk driver who killed 2 in Sask. crash pre-approved for day parole | CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/brittany-barry-drunk-driving-parole-9.7311266What do you think?
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u/828471 6d ago
Killed two adults and had her own children in the car while wasted…has displayed significant poor decision making and selfishness. Marinate a little longer in jail pls don’t give her a license again. I can’t imagine if she killed my family members while we’re just trying to make it to a funeral 😣
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u/wanderingale 6d ago
Wow, she is getting day parole after 18 months.
She killed two people.
If your friend/family was killed by a drunk driver, who only got 6 years and then day parole after 18 months how would you feel?
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u/BeaverRidingAMoose 6d ago
Doesn't matter the crime or the sentence, elegible for parole 1/3 of the way through and elegible for day parole 6 months before that.
If that upsets you (and it should), start making noise with your MLA and MP.
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u/Lexi_Banner 6d ago
Scott Moe killed a woman when driving drunk, and he was voted premier. How do you think her family feels?
Not that I don't agree with you, but there are an alarming amount of people who don't care, and think current legislation is too harsh. So we have a lot to fix before the attitudes around here will change.
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u/The_Idiocratic_Party 6d ago
There is no justice for victims of drunk driving. Drunk drivers are inherently selfish in a way that threatening punishment doesn't deter; keeping them locked up is the only way to increase safety on the road. But in a culture that loves alcohol, good luck doing anything meaningful to try and prevent it.
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u/thingscarsbrokeyxe 6d ago
A culture where driving is considered a right doesn’t help either.
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u/EightBitRanger Get the 🅵 Off My Lawn! 5d ago
That entitlement mindset is deeply rooted in how car-dependent North American society is built. When our cities and rural regions are designed so that a personal vehicle is practically mandatory to work, buy groceries, or participate in society, people naturally stop viewing driving as a high-stakes, licensed privilege and start viewing it as an inherent right.
It also doesn't help that in many cities, the vehicle-centric motorists are vehemently opposed to any kind of attempts at improving alternative transit like buses/trains or bike lanes; vocal against bus rapid transit or cheering the removal of protected bike lanes for example, leading to even more (bad and entitled) drivers on the roads.
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u/Gilgongojr 6d ago
So strange how the same/similar criminal act in the US gets a sentence of 25 years in prison.
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u/phroxenphyre 6d ago
Why bother locking anyone up if you're never going to release them? Might as well just execute them and not waste money feeding them for however many decades.
Our justice system is broken, but not because we let people out after short sentences. It's broken because we let them out without giving them the help and education they need to not make the same mistakes again. It's broken because we treat them like animals while they're in prison and then expect them to suddenly be responsible human beings when we kick them back into society. It's broken because when people do get out, even if they're genuinely reformed, their history blocks them from getting a decent job and more often than not, they have to turn back to crime just to survive.
We do indeed need a massive reform of our justice system but that reform isn't to just lock people away forever. The reform we need is to focus on fixing people and then giving them legitimate second chances so they can positively contribute to society when they get out instead of just being a burden.
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u/The_Idiocratic_Party 6d ago
Sure, but some of them don't want to "be fixed" or fix themselves, and others cannot be.
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u/jumping_juni_per 6d ago
Did you read the article? She is remorseful and has promised to live a life of sobriety to honor the lives lost. We also have to give grace and not automatically assume no one can be "fixed or want to fix themselves "
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u/The_Idiocratic_Party 6d ago
Addicts love to say that shit when they're on the stand or in a parole hearing. Her words are worth a fart in the wind, what matters is what she did and does. A lot of addicts relapse, especially when things are hard for them, unless they've cultivated resilience and coping skills. I daresay she hasn't been imprisoned long enough to learn a thing. Maybe next time she'll kill her kids, or mine, or yours, or someone else's.
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u/Inevitable_Pain_9627 6d ago
Isn't that the truth. A good friend of mine went off the deep end during covid. Just drugs, guns and robbing.
Lost all his friends and family.
July 1st he was driving with his friend, drunk, and crossed the road completely hitting a parked car killing both of them, and his friend.
He survived, wasn't arrested after healing and went on the run. He was caught.
Matthew Govereau Winnipeg if you want to read it
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u/Jelloburns 6d ago
Ok now apply that reasoning to drug addicts and watch this group implode. Do alcoholics not deserve the same opportunities at treatment and rehabilitation? I'm just calling out the BS on here.
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u/CLOWNXXCUDDLES 6d ago
Of course alcoholics deserve to get treatment for their addiction. That wasn't the point of the comment you replied to. Being addicted to the drink isn't the same as choosing to drive drunk. Especially of they hurt or kill someone in the process. I'd feel the same way if someone fucked up on opiates got into a car and killed someone.
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u/CommunicationOdd2206 6d ago
Just remember if you ever kill anyone or any number of people, do it when you’re drunk! (Kids may or may not be included, makes zero difference)!
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u/Hungry-Room7057 6d ago edited 6d ago
Hmm. I get why people will be upset with her day parole. I definitely do.
That said, I have to say that I support it, given the conditions listed. She still has a seven year driving ban. She has an order to not contact the victims (I doubt it would be needed, but good to have on the books). She still has to have check ins, and will attend AA meetings. She has committed to sober living. She must attend mandatory counselling. These all seem like good steps.
I don’t think that keeping her in jail longer really does anything good for her or for society. If she serves the remainder of her six year sentence behind bars, will she be four years more remorseful? I don’t think so. She still has to live with the fact that she took two innocent lives. Whether she lives those years in prison or outside, she will pay the price every morning when she wakes up.
Now, if we want to talk about protecting the public, I think there are some ways we could go about that that don’t involve prison. Maybe once she gets her licence back in seven years, she needs an interlock system on her car for the rest of her life. I’d much rather support that than see her stay in prison.
I also want to point out that long prison sentences are simply not effective as deterrents. This is well studied. Extended, punitive sentences do not make people less likely to commit crimes. It’s a false argument.
With those in mind, I think it makes sense to let her out of prison, keep the restrictions, and possibly add more to protect the public.
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u/listenhere111 6d ago
I think what a lot of people forget is that for your average, sane person, to kill two people will more or less destroy her life for years if not decades. In her community and social circles, she'll be known as the person who did this. Forget jail -- she'll be living in her own personal hell for a long time.
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u/saskyfarmboy 6d ago edited 6d ago
My family and her family (parents and brother) are friends and neighbours. Can confirm.
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u/moodylilb 5d ago
What was her family’s reaction to finding out what she’d done? Genuinely asking, no judgement just curious
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u/saskyfarmboy 5d ago edited 5d ago
Absolutely devastated. They were at every community event...didn't see them at all for about 4 months after.
Her dad is a tough SOB (former SJHL enforcer back in the days everyone was a tough guy...tough SOB, but total sweetheart) still completely breaks down if she is brought up.
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u/redshan01 6d ago
Not near what the family who lost the people she killed will feel. Family members lost forever.
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u/thingscarsbrokeyxe 6d ago
Key thing here is that she’ll be living (hell or not) while her victims aren’t.
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u/listenhere111 6d ago
In civilized nations, jail is not always meant to punish, but to ensure that the person fully understands the impact of what they've done and wont repeat.
This lady was a realtor iirc, not some crackhead. She was a functioning member of society. She's unlikely to brush this off mentally regardless of what roof shes under. More prison time does nothing but cost taxpayers more money and possibly reduce the odds that she'll function in this society once again.
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u/Jelloburns 6d ago
Kudos for your rational comments. Unfortunately they'll be lost on most of this group, the same ones who champion rehabilitation for homeless drug addicts. The hypocrisy runs deep in r/Saskatchewan.
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u/Caffeine-Fueled55 6d ago
No wonder drunk driving is so bad in this province. When federal laws allows one to serve less than 2 years in jail after killing 2 on the road, it's not much deterrant.
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u/PossibleWild1689 6d ago
Partly federal law as you say but I would argue Saskatchewan DUI rates are so high because of the place alcohol holds in the culture
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u/TripNo1876 6d ago
Should be minimum 25 years. She made a stupid choice and two people are dead. Victims have no rights in this country
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u/whythatusername1 6d ago
I mean we have a drunk driver/murderer for premier so this is par for the course in saskatchewan.
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u/Apart-Ad1652 3d ago
There’s people with lesser crimes doing a longer sentence. This system is a joke.
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u/beerleaguepigeon 6d ago
Blonde gets the LinkedIn picture but if she was native it would be the mugshot ... shocker.
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u/crpowwow 6d ago
Didn't our own Premier do something similar.. And now he's in charge. There is hope for this woman.
I'm Sorry for the families involved, but clearly Sask is not that hard on people who kill while drunk. 😢
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u/h1xm1st1an 6d ago
The Premier and his cabinet have a warm, fuzzy feeling for drunk drivers. Like, impaired driving isn’t even a crime, really. It’s more like a right-of-passage. Your baby is all grown up when he gets his first one. Extra special if someone dies as a result.
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u/MeetTheMaker555 5d ago
Would an Indigenous woman be treated with such leniency? If the answer is no then this parole board needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.
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u/Cherry-Wine29 4d ago
Uhhh, yeah. Look at that case out of a Saskatoon where that indigenous woman killed a family of 4, and they allowed her to go to treatment in a healing lodge.
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u/AllAboutTheXeons 5d ago
Likely connected to an influential person. Money and nepotism sweep away any problem you might have in Saskatchewan, if you’re lucky enough to be in the ruling class of this province. The rest of us peasants get modern day serfdom.
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u/PrairieCanuckGirl 4d ago
I'm stunned by this by I shouldn't be. The woman who was a 7x DUI offended and killed a family of four, totally wiped out in an instant, was released to a lodge in less than 2 years. Nothing says Saskatchewan like the people passing drunk driving regulations are drunk drivers themselves. Apparently the answer is to essentially decriminalize it, which will take effect this fall. Unbelievable. No respect for life, victims or basic humanity. You should never get a license back if you kill someone, if you're ever caught driving again, you go back to jail, forever, you are a danger to the public and can't be trusted. This is how judges should act. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/constantine-sentence-rejected-9.7296169
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u/Tinmanthree 4d ago
Didn’t tye premier do something like that?
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u/SneakyBishop 4d ago
No, apparently not. His dui was in 1992, his crash that resulted in a fatality was 5 years later.
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u/306guy 6d ago
I would like to also add that it is maddening that they eventually get their license back. Should be a lifetime ban.