'I'm glad you shot the guy': Doug Ford congratulates Vaughan resident at Kenilworth event

KENILWORTH – Ontario premier Doug Ford congratulated the person who shot and injured an intruder during a home invasion in Vaughan on March 17.

“Congratulations, yeah, I’m glad you shot the guy, teaches the rest of these robbers,” Ford said, responding to a reporter’s question about the shooting during a funding announcement at the Kenilworth public works garage on March 18.

The premier said the shooter “was defending his family.”

According to York Regional Police, “multiple suspects, armed with at least one firearm” broke into a Vaughan home around 12:50am.

An occupant took a “legally owned and properly stored firearm” and shot at the suspects, injuring one. The suspects fled in a black pickup truck.

Police identified the injured person after he was dropped off at a hospital with a gunshot wound and charged him with robbery with a firearm, disguise with intent and breach of probation.

Three other suspects remain at large.

The premier stopped in Wellington County on March 18 to announce $29 million in funding for water and wastewater projects in Wellington and Perth counties and became spirited as he spoke about the invasion.

“I encourage everyone out there that's a legal gun owner,” the premier said, not completing the thought.

“Someone’s going to come in and try to kill you and kill your family,” he said.

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The premier referenced recent home invasions in the GTA, including:

• a March 11 incident where a man was shot inside his Toronto residence with his family home at the time, during what police say was an intrusion demanding cash; and
• a November home invasion in Vaughan that left a father shot to death in front of his family.

“These guys, they need to be shot, as far as I’m concerned,” Ford said, later calling them "ruthless" and adding "they need to rot in jail for the rest of their lives.”

“Congratulations for shooting this guy,” he said.

“Should’ve shot him a couple more times as far as I’m concerned.”

People exchanged glances around the room filled with municipal and provincial staffers and media.

Leigh Fishleigh, a now retired Fergus defence lawyer who practised criminal law for over three decades, told the Advertiser there can be complex legal and ethical dilemmas raised in self-defence scenarios.

“Look at all the factors in determining whether the act committed is reasonable,” Fishleigh said.

Section 34 of Canada’s Criminal Code tests the catalyst, motive and response in self-defence scenarios where force is used.

Addressing whether reasonable force was used in self defence, the law contemplates almost 20 factors.

Fishleigh said he has no opinion on the cases referenced by the premier because he doesn’t have all the facts.

But in three-plus decades practising criminal law, Fishleigh said random break-ins are “very rare” locally, and are typically connected to drugs or domestic violence when they do happen.

“It’s rare — even in Toronto,” he added.

The premier also lashed out at the federal government during last week’s announcement, accusing the feds of wanting to “protect the bad guys” and wasting time pursing “legal, law-abiding gun owners that safely store their guns, safely store their ammunition” through the federal gun buyback program.

“I have an idea," Ford continued, “rather than wasting hundreds of millions of dollars going after legal gun owners, why don’t you spend hundreds of millions of dollars going after the bad guys?”

Ford said judges are too concerned about protecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“How about the charter of rights of the people to keep them safe rather than always protecting these criminals. I’m just sick and tired of them,” the premier said, later adding “we have some great judges, but we have some really weak-knee judges.”

Fishleigh, who now works on the other side of the courtroom representing the Crown in bail court, told the Advertiser everyone’s rights are reinforced each time a criminal’s rights are upheld.

“[The Charter] makes everybody behave, and of all people that must behave, in my opinion, it’s law enforcement and the courts … criminals can be criminals but we can’t be — the courts can’t be, the cops can’t be, otherwise to me it becomes where is civilization?” Fishleigh said.

Charter rights mean that judicial authorization and oversight are required for police to break down someone’s door, Fishleigh said, providing an example.

“When the state's coming after you, and you can't go to court and depend on a judge to look after your charter rights, where are you going to go?” Fishleigh said.

The courts, he added, are where the individual meets the full power of the state, and judges arbitrate that power.

“That's a very hard job, and it's a very brave job to make an unpopular decision,” Fishleigh said, noting appeal courts provide a venue to dispute a judge’s decision.

“For them to make an unpopular decision, or even have the ability to, they have to be left alone.”

The premier said last week he could assure those gathered in Kenilworth that “the vast majority of the people” in Ontario are thinking what he was saying.

“Anyways folks, God bless you,” Ford said. “We’ll always have your back and we’re going to keep moving forward.”

The garage erupted in applause.