On February 11, 2022, Darris Wilson's Dodge Ram pickup — strewn with empty and partially consumed beer cans — slammed head-on into a Mitsubishi carrying Naomi Beverly and her daughter, Sierra.

Wilson was driving 90 km/h in a 50 km zone and made no attempt to brake. Sierra, just 12-years-old at the time, was killed at the scene. Her mother Naomi suffered debilitating brain injuries for which she still requires 24-hour care.

But the judge in Wilson's case citied "colonialism" while handing the man a very lenient sentence. Sheila Gunn Reid and Drea Humphrey broke down the sentencing on Tuesday's Rebel Roundup.

Dangerous driving causing death carries a maximum sentence of 14 years. The Crown requested four years in prison, itself a number Sheila described as already light given the facts.

Justice Gethin Edward gave Wilson two years of house arrest. His sentencing decision focused predominantly on how Canada's colonial past had turned Wilson into a drunk driver, ruling that Wilson "suffered from cultural disconnection as a result of colonization, which crystallized into the tragic events of February 11th, 2022."

The judge framed the four-year sentence requested by the Crown as a government effort to rob Wilson of his heritage, writing that "Mr. Wilson's efforts to regain his culture, that which was taken from him and his family in a systemic fashion by the government of Canada, will once again be taken by the state if the court imposes a four-year penitentiary sentence."

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He described the light sentence as "a small but necessary gesture" to help erase Canada's colonial past.

The hosts also dug into the judge's history, drawing on reporting by the National Post's Tristan Hopper.

In 2024, Edward was named a visiting Indigenous scholar at Wilfrid Laurier University, with school officials praising his work to "decolonize Canada's legal system." The justice has previously removed Canadian and Ontario flags from his courtroom to accommodate an Indigenous witness.

Also in 2024, he ruled in favour of a Six Nations mother who wished to stop chemotherapy for her 11-year-old daughter suffering from leukemia in order to pursue traditional remedies, finding that McMaster Children's Hospital's effort to ensure the child received potentially life-saving care violated the family's constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights.

Drea connected the ruling to a broader pattern, noting Gladue principles — the legal requirement that courts consider an Indigenous offender's background and systemic factors when sentencing — are baked into Canadian law regardless of the individual judge.

"Even if you don't have an activist judge," she said, "you have an actual law that must be applied." She also referenced the ongoing case of Taig Savage, a BC victim whose mother Tracey Savage has been publicly asking where the justice is for her daughter, with plea deals reportedly in play and publication bans limiting what can be reported.

Sheila said the Edward decision is a strong argument for keeping the notwithstanding clause in the Constitution. "You need to be able to override activist judges in the interest of protecting justice," she said. "This is insane."

Rebel Roundup airs Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday at 11 a.m. MT / 1 p.m. ET.