Terrorism finding would boost ‘moral culpability’

An application by federal prosecutors to treat a sword attack at a Brandon high school as an act of terrorism could bolster the Crown’s bid to impose an adult sentence if the accused teen is found guilty, a legal expert says.

“One of the considerations on whether a youth should be sentenced as an adult is the moral culpability … On a terrorism offence, that’s a lot morally worse than a non-terrorism offence,” Jon Doody, a defence lawyer in Ottawa, told the Sun on Thursday.

The 17-year-old boy is accused of stabbing another student with a sword at École secondaire Neelin High School on June 10, 2025, leaving the victim with deep cuts to his hands, chest and thigh. He also allegedly chased another student and a staff member at the school.

The Youth Criminal Justice Act prevents the Sun from naming the accused, who is charged with three counts of attempted murder and two counts each of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and assault with a weapon.

He is also charged with disguise with intent and aggravated assault.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada has given notice of its intention to seek the application of 83.27(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada in the case, Crown attorney Jennifer Comack said in an email to the Sun on Wednesday.

The provision, which was put into place in 2001 as part of the Anti-terrorism Act, allows the court to sentence offenders to life in prison if they plead guilty or are convicted of an indictable offence.

If the teen is convicted and the Crown proceeds with the application, a hearing would take place and the judge would have to determine whether the offences met the definition of terrorism, said Manitoba defence lawyer Caleigh Glawson, who is not involved in the case.

To meet the definition, the Crown would need to establish motive, intention and consequence, she said.

“It would need to establish that the act was committed in whole or part for a political, religious or ideological purpose, objective or cause,” she said. “The second piece is intention, and that’s where the act is committed in whole or in part with the intention of intimidating the public, or a segment of the public, with regard to its security.”

Consequence includes where the act caused harm, endangered life, caused a risk to health or caused property damage, resulting in death, bodily harm or endangered life.

Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates said weeks after the Neelin incident that there was a significant amount of evidence that the accused’s “racial and political ideologies” were motivating factors behind the attack.

The victim’s background is Nigerian, while multiple sources confirmed the accused is Indigenous.

If the judge is satisfied that the actions meet the definition of terrorism, “it opens the door to allowing for a life sentence where it would otherwise not be available,” Glawson said.

She said in the case of a youth, the Crown would also have to apply for the accused to be sentenced as an adult for the option of a life sentence to be available since the YCJA caps youth sentences at 10 years.

In September 2025, the Crown gave notice of its intent to seek an adult sentence if the teen is convicted.

Doody said that while he doesn’t know the specifics of the case, if the teen is convicted and his acts meet the terrorism definition, “it’ll make it easier for them to win their application of sentencing him as an adult.”

“Not only does it help the Crown get the adult sentence, also it is a legislated aggravating factor of sentencing if it was a terrorism offence … The court would be required to impose a higher sentence if the criminal act was terrorism than if it wasn’t,” he said.

Without the Crown successfully applying to sentence the teen as an adult, Doody said there would be “little value” in seeking the terrorism designation because of the cap on youth sentences.

Doody said he is only aware of one case where the provision was applied.

In 2023, Oguzhan Sert received a life sentence for the 2020 first-degree murder of Ashley Arzaga and the attempted murder of a second woman after an incel-inspired attack at an erotic massage parlour in Toronto when he was 17 years old.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com