ATHABASCA/WESTLOCK — A Calling Lake woman involved in multiple violent incidents with family members and a drunken fight with two people at a Westlock hotel was sentenced to time served and nine months of probation at Westlock Court of Justice on May 1.
Faith Kylee Cardinal, 34, pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, two counts of assault, mischief under $5,000, two counts of breaching a release order, and failure to attend court. Eight other charges were withdrawn.
Justice Jordan Stuffco sentenced Cardinal to a total of 53 days in jail, which was broken down as follows: one day on the assault with a weapon, 45 days on the two assaults to be served concurrently, one day on the mischief, three days to be served concurrently on the two breaches and three days on the failure to appear in court.
However, because she had been in custody for 44 days, this effectively was a time served situation as that worked out to 66 days on an enhanced credit basis.
Justice Stuffco also sentenced Cardinal to nine months of probation, which was lower than the 12 months recommended by the Crown. During that time, she must report to probation within five days, keep the peace and be of good behaviour, appear before court when required to do so, have no contact with the four victims of her offences, possess no weapons as defined by the Criminal Code and provide written verification of her attendance in any assessment, treatment or counselling to probation. She was also ordered to surrender a sample of her DNA.
The judge urged Cardinal not to look at this probation as a punishment, but an opportunity to get some help with her alcohol abuse and any other psychological issues pushing her towards addiction.
“I really encourage you to do everything you can to fight the urge to drink”," he said, adding that alcohol abuse ravages every community but especially Indigenous and Métis people like Cardinal, who is a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation.
The facts
Crown prosecutor Matthew Kerr said that on May 23, 2023, Cardinal was at her mother's residence in Calling Lake. She was intoxicated and became angry at her mother, eventually arming herself with a knife.
“She then made a stabbing motion towards her mother, but her mother was able to defend herself and disarm the accused," Kerr said.
Cardinal then left the residence and the incident was reported to police. She was located nearby and arrested, Kerr said.
On Aug. 2, 2023, at approximately 11 p.m., Cardinal entered an "agitated state" while being intoxicated at a hotel in Westlock and began fighting staff, screaming and throwing chairs.
Two people reported they had been assaulted by Cardinal, who punched both of them in the face. Kerr said RCMP reviewed video surveillance and determined Cardinal had struck one victim at least three times and had punched the other victim once.
The first victim was left with a blister on her lip, Kerr noted.
Then on Aug. 30, 2023, at approximately 1:45 p.m., another of Cardinal's family members called the Athabasca RCMP to report she was outside of his residence, smashing its windows.
RCMP attended the scene and photographed six smashed house windows, Kerr said. A rear window and passenger door on a vehicle had also been damaged with an axe.
Kerr noted that RCMP had attended the residence one to two hours before this call and had instructed Cardinal to leave the area and go home. No alcohol was involved in this incident.
On Nov. 10, 2023, Kerr said Cardinal once again attended her mother's residence and started yelling while ignoring requests to leave. The RCMP were called, though Cardinal left before they arrived; however, she returned later in the day and the RCMP were called again.
Cardinal was on a release order at the time with conditions not to have any contact with her mother. Upon being confronted by police, she told officers she had no intention of abiding by the conditions.
Finally, on April 10, 2024, Cardinal failed to attend docket court in Athabasca and did not have a valid excuse for doing so.
The Crown indicated that Cardinal had a criminal record with multiple convictions over four years, though they mostly related to driving while under the influence.
While her record was aggravating, Kerr acknowledged that Cardinal was entering guilty pleas and thus saving the court time, noting that as the Athabasca Crown, he's aware of issues with attendance by witnesses.
Restraint was also necessary in light of Cardinal's status as a First Nations individual, who are disproportionately over-incarcerated.
Finally, Kerr noted a lot of these issues are under-pinned by alcohol abuse. “I am very hopeful that treatment of this issue may result in Ms. Cardinal not being back here," he said.
Though Cardinal waived her right to a Gladue report — a type of pre-sentencing report that takes into consideration the legacy of residential schools in regards to Indigenous offenders, Justice Stuffco indicated he didn't require one to know about the impact of residential schools, which had affected his own family.
