Justice John Bonn handed down his sentence to former Building Inspector Carol Ryan in Picton’s Ontario Court of Justice March 19.

For the next 18 months, Ms. Ryan is to remain in her Deseronto apartment and is only permitted to leave for medical emergencies, counselling, community service work and employment.

Justice Bonn also ordered Ms. Ryan to remit over 50 percent of any remuneration she receives as a result of employment to the CUPE Local for five years. In addition to the $152,000 Ms. Ryan stole from the Local’s coffers, she must also pay the forensic auditing costs and legal fees incurred by CUPE as it investigated Ms. Ryan’s fraud.

Those costs are in excess of $50,000.

Ms. Ryan is also ordered to complete 180 hours of community service and is not to be in a “position of trust.”

In determining Ms. Ryan’s sentence, Justice Bonn said it must be tailored to both Ms. Ryan and the victim, CUPE Local 2275. The justice noted there were significant aggravating factors, including the size of the fraud and that Ms. Ryan had destroyed some records relating to it.

But Justice Bonn also noted Ms. Ryan didn’t have a criminal record. She also endured physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her late husband. Another mitigating factor was pleaded guilty in December, avoiding a trial. She also undertook to sell her home in Milford, and handed over $62,000 from that sale to pay back CUPE.

“Ms. Ryan has lost her reputation in this community. She had a front-facing, public-profile position and it will be very difficult to recover her social standing,” Justice Bonn said. “Her age, her lack of criminal record, and her active steps to make restitution are all noted.”

The Justice reasoned there was a high degree of reassurance that the community would not be in danger if Ms. Ryan was given a conditional sentence and any potential employment would provide a greater opportunity to make restitution payments than if she served a custodial sentence.

Crown’s position

Ms. Ryan was before Justice Bonn on March 12 as Crown Attorney Paul Layefsky and defence council Mike Prestsell made submissions on whether Ms. Ryan would face any jail time for her fraudulent actions over a five year period where she stole $152,378 from Local 2275 coffers using falsified signatures.

Ms. Ryan pleaded guilty in December to depositing fraudulent cheques into her personal bank account. During that plea, Crown Attorney Pardeep Bhachu told the court there was a lack of financial oversight during Ms. Ryan’s tenure as treasurer. Audits were not performed annually, as prescribed by CUPE bylaws.

“From at least 2017 until 2021, Ms. Ryan, who was carrying frequent debt obligations in her personal finances, took advantage of this lack of oversight and began to steal from and defraud the union on a regular basis,” Ms. Bhachu said on December 5, 2024.

Restitution

Mr. Layefsky said in his submission there needed to be “actual jail time” assigned to Ms. Ryan given the aggravating factors in the case including the amount, complexity and planning she undertook to commit the fraud.

“It’s a breach of trust fraud and a large one,” Mr. Layefsky said. “A fraud of this magnitude requires denunciatory sentencing and the general range of frauds of this magnitude are a custodial sentence of 12-18 months in jail.”

Mr. Layefsky noted a sealed Gladue Report that was submitted to Justice Bonn. Gladue principles are sentencing guidelines Canadian courts use to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders. The principles aim to reduce the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system.

The Crown didn’t wish to diminish the Gladue report however said people who might attempt a fraud of this size and scope would do a cost/benefit analysis. Mr. Layefsky said if the risk of going to jail versus stealing a large amount of money was low, they might figure the illicit action would be worth it, an attitude the community wouldn’t stand for.

Reconciliation

During his submissions, Mr. Pretsell said Ms. Ryan’s unique circumstances called for a conditional sentence of two years less a day served in the community followed by probation.

He added all the proceeds of the sale of Ms. Ryan’s home in Milford were remitted to CUPE and that amount would have been more, however, a cracked foundation was discovered during a pre sale home inspection, knocking over $100,000 off the sale price.

The defence lawyer said Ms. Ryan has been reduced to living hand-to-mouth in Deseronto and, at 67, has lost the ability to ever get ahead again.

“As a result of her crimes, Ms. Ryan has lost everything.”

Mr. Pretsell stated there was an absence of lavish spending by Ms. Ryan. The former building inspector was living in an abusive relationship with a person she described as an addict in the pre sentence report.

“This isn’t a theft where she’s buying a car or taking a trip or buying a boat. She’s paying the bills and suffering abuse,” Mr. Prestell said. “She lost everything. Her home, the respect of her friends, her financial security and her family for a period of time. She was humiliated by what she did, even to the point of denying herself counselling.”

Mr. Pretsell spoke to the Gladue report in front of Justice Bonn and noted almost half the women in Canadian prisons are Indigenous, an “embarrassing national statistic.”

The Gladue Principles were enacted by Canada’s Supreme Court in 1999 and require courts to consider the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders. However, as the Truth and Reconciliation report points out, the rate of overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canadian prisons has gotten worse, not better. The female population of Canadian prisons and jails are comprised of 42 per cent of Indigenous women. This is despite the fact Indigenous women make up only four per cent of the country’s population.

“It appears jurists and Crowns across Canada have lost the focus of the Gladue Principles and it’s getting worse,” Mr. Pretsell said. “This is a case that cries out for a community sentence.”

Regret

Ms. Ryan addressed the court and was sobbing while asking for its grace and compassion. She apologized to her former co-workers, members of the Local and her family, stating she was ashamed of her actions and they do not represent her as an Indigenous woman.

“I apologize for this misappropriation. No matter what was happening in my personal life, it didn’t give me permission to do what I did,” she said. “I was in a relationship with a man who was an addict and abusive, I got lost in my world.”