Two people who were involved in the Rutherford School occupation two years ago were sentenced at the Nanaimo courthouse Wednesday morning.
Twenty-four-year-old Mercedes Courtoreille and 35-year-old Christopher Thompson pleaded guilty to mischief causing damage to a building.
Mercedes Courtoreille (right) and Christopher Thompson left walking outside the courthouse after the sentencing
They were among the 22 people arrested at school on Oct. 6, 2018 and they’re among the only four that were charged for their involvement.
During the joint submission, Crown Counsel Ken Paziuk says the group broke into the unoccupied school on Oct. 5. Their intent was for the school to help house the homeless.
They brought food and supplies and it appears they were intending to stay for some time.
Police arrived and told the occupiers to leave but they did not. The Crown says police then needed to manage the crowd that showed up, some of whom were opposed to the occupation and yelling at the school occupiers.
At 1:45 a.m. the next morning, Courtereille and Thompson were exiting the school when police intercepted them and arrested them at gunpoint.
Later in the day, police arrested the remaining people at the school.
Fixing the damage and associated costs came to $70,000 and the Crown says the school district’s insurance didn’t cover it because it was a recently unoccupied building.
Neither Courtereille or Thompson have a criminal record and their lawyer Anthony Matilla says they had nothing to personally gain from being involved and it was done out of empathy for the homeless though they both acknowledge their actions went too far.
The pair were each handed a one-year conditional discharge which means they won’t have a criminal record if they complete their probation successfully.
The judge also ordered them to pay $1,000 each in restitution to the school district and to perform 50 community work service hours.
“I’m glad that they have to pay restitution. What they did was wrong. I respect and I’m glad that the court system followed through with it and hopefully they’ve learned something through this,” said Steve Rae, the former Nanaimo-Ladysmith School Board Chair who was elected at the time.
But a coaccused isn’t convinced what they did was criminal.
“Myself and Listen Chen are continuing on to trial in order to refuse the unified call of those in power that it’s a criminal act to fight against homelessness. We think that it’s criminal to keep people on the streets. They think it’s criminal to occupy a vacant building in order to house the homeless,” said Ivan Drury from his home near Mission.
No date has been set for their trial.
The Crown says the four charged in the incident were the organizers and others weren’t charged because it was difficult to prove their involvement or damage they caused.
Kendall Hanson
