Alberta judge rejects robber's Indigenous identity claims, proposes test for deciding who should and shouldn't get Gladue reports

An Alberta judge is proposing new guidelines for how courts handle people who say they are Indigenous during sentencing hearings, but don’t have proof to back up their claims.

Last month, Justice Jordan Stuffco of the Alberta Court of Justice sentenced Jonathan Anthony Ninan to 33 months in prison for robbing a Leduc sports bar, after Ninan admitted to pointing a replica firearm at the bar’s lone female employee and making off with $12,000 cash.

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After pleading guilty to a pair of charges, Ninan requested a Gladue report, a pre-sentence document which examines the impacts of government policy towards Indigenous people on an Indigenous person’s criminal conduct.

While some offenders’ claims of Indigenous identity are uncontroversial, Ninan had only the vague sense th