First Nation Leadership council calls for reversal of Kelowna fraudster parole decision

News that a Kelowna fraudster has been given day parole has appalled members of the First Nation Leadership Council, who are calling for an immediate reversal of the decision.

Robert Riley Saunders, a former case worker for the Ministry of Children and Family Development, stole more than $460,000 in the name of indigenous youth that were his care, and sentenced to five and a half years in prison last year. This month, he got day parole, 14 months into his sentence.

“Despite the calls of many Canadians, and especially First Nations People, this government has chosen not to reform the Canadian parole system. First Nations people need to have a stronger voice at the parole hearings when it is First Nations people who are the victims”, Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the BC Assembly of First Nations said in a statement.

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“In addition, this decision flies in the face of the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People which has many sections aimed at protecting Indigenous youth.”

Hugh Braker of the First Nations Summit political executive said there needs to be a rethink regarding alignment of the principles of sentencing and the principles guiding parole.

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“As it is now, First Nations people, and all Canadians, are losing faith in the Parole system and the Justice system in general,” Braker said. “These types of decisions by the Parole Board single-handedly bring the administration of justice into disrepute”.

Saunders, 53, was sentenced in July 2022 to five years in prison for fraud over $5,000, breach of trust as a public officer, and causing a person to use a forged document, and this week he was granted day parole for the next six months.

“After reviewing and weighing the relevant factors in your case, the board puts weight on your limited criminal history, your good behaviour when on bail, your positive engagement in voluntary interventions, and your viable release plan,” the parole board said in a decision addressed to Saunders and released earlier this month.

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Saunders had asked for full parole, but that request was denied.

“The board remains acutely aware that your offending caused Indigenous youth to suffer while you lived a lavish lifestyle and bragged about it to them,” the parole board wrote to Saunders in its decision.

The board pointed out that Saunders continues to require oversight given his ability to keep his misdeeds a secret for so long and that his proposed release plan offered little financial certainty, “which has the potential to be destabilizing.”