'Pathetic': Sask. woman hopes for tougher sentences after sister killed in drunk driving incident

No amount of time given to an impaired driver who rolled a vehicle and killed a Saskatchewan woman would have been enough time to her, but Destiny Schaffer said she didn't think that driver would be out of jail so soon.

Schaffer said Adrian McLaren was sentenced to two years less a day in a Swift Current, Sask., courtroom for drunk driving causing death in September for his role in the death of her sister, Demi McKechnie. 

Schaffer said the family was OK with the sentence, provided McLaren served the entirety of it in custody, but she said that was not the case. McLaren, from Moose Jaw, was released early and only served nine months.

"I don't think it's fair. I think the justice system has failed my sister and this family incredibly," Schaffer said. "This is actually pathetic."

McKechnie was in a pickup truck with four other people driven by McLaren when it rolled near Morse on Feb. 23, 2018. McKechnie was ejected from the vehicle. She was already dead when authorities arrived on scene, according to Schaffer.

McKechnie wasn't wearing a seatbelt at the time but McLaren should not have been driving in the first place, Schaffer said. If he hadn't been driving, her sister might still be alive.

"A big sister is supposed to get her little sister ready for her wedding ... I had to get my sister ready for her funeral. I went up and I did my sister's hair and I did my sister's makeup and I painted her fingernails," Schaffer said. 

"That's something that's going to haunt me for the rest of my life."

In addition to his jail sentence, the driver also has a 10-year firearms ban, three-year driving ban and must submit a DNA sample. 

Changes needed: Schaffer

New, tougher changes with the law are needed, in addition to a new mandatory minimum sentence, she said. Schaffer wants McLaren banned from driving and to lose his licence for life.

A spokesperson from the province's Ministry of Justice said in the case of mandatory minimum sentences or Criminal Code offences, that is a federal matter. Any sentencing decisions are made by the court, the spokesperson added. 

There is no mandatory minimum sentence for an impaired driving causing death conviction but the maximum penalty is life in prison. 

The federal Department of Justice said they could not comment on specific stories but pointed to a relatively recent amendment to the Criminal Code when it comes to the laws around impaired driving. 

According to a spokesperson, the amendments have "[increased] maximum terms of imprisonment. For example, the maximum penalty of imprisonment for all of the impaired driving offences that do not cause bodily harm or death was increased from 18 months to two years less a day imprisonment on summary conviction and from five years to 10 years on indictment," Ian McLeod said in an email. 

"The maximum penalty for transportation offences causing bodily harm on indictment was also increased from 10 to 14 years, and all offences causing death now have a maximum of life imprisonment."

They also said that the new law requires sentencing courts to treat death or bodily harm to more than one person in an impaired driving case as an aggravating factor.

Schaffer has set up an email address, demisstory@sasktel.net, for other families to share their stories. She plans to take those stories "as far as [she] possibly can. Schaffer also is planning on speaking at schools about her sister's story.

"This needs to change. The law needs to change," she said.

"Another family can't go what my family had to endure."

McLaren's lawyer comments

CBC spoke with McLaren's defence lawyer,  Darren Kraushaar, who said his client was remorseful over his actions and didn't want to fight the case. 

He pleaded guilty to his charge.