Former Gibsons councillor Silas White has been fined the maximum amount of $2,000, will serve one year of probation and has agreed not to operate a vehicle unless equipped with an Interlock device after pleading guilty to one count of careless driving under the Motor Vehicle Act.
Sechelt provincial court Judge Steven Merrick accepted the plea on the second day of what was scheduled to be a three-day trial starting Dec. 8.
White was charged in October 2018 with impaired driving causing bodily harm and causing an accident resulting in bodily harm in connection with a single-vehicle accident in Gibsons on Sept. 16.
White withdrew his candidacy for mayor of Gibsons two days later. He was expected to be acclaimed.
His lawyer entered a not guilty plea on his behalf that November.
Three people provided testimony on the first day of trial, revealing how a night of celebrating political victories ended with a crash on Gower Point Road, causing significant injuries to both passengers.
On the second day of proceedings, Crown counsel Marion West told judge Merrick after discussions with White’s defence lawyer there would be a “resolution to this matter.”
West summarized prior testimony that White was driving passengers Bart Porebski and School District No. 46 trustee Tonya Ste. Marie to her home on the dark and rainy night when he missed an S-curve, “went straight over an embankment and hit a tree.”
West acknowledged the maximum fine was “significant” but said both passengers suffered injuries. In particular, the crash had a “considerable impact” on Ste. Marie, she said, based on her demeanour in court the previous day.
Standing before Merrick in suit and tie, White said he accepted the guilty plea for driving without due care and attention, also known as careless driving.
The Crown waived the two prior charges and White maintained his not-guilty plea.
His defence lawyer, Scott Wright, described the outcome as an “appropriate resolution” that was “very much a compromise over a period of time.”
Wright also described White’s standing in the community as a former School Board chair and Town councillor and said, “Given this matter he had to pull back from being mayor.” He said White feels “regret and remorse.”
White also spoke to the judge, describing himself as a “lifelong” resident of the Sunshine Coast. Dec. 8 had been the first time he had stepped into the courthouse and “today [would] hopefully be the last time.”
In his comments, Merrick said Sept. 16, 2018 would be a day many in the community wouldn’t forget. He said both Ste. Marie and Porebski acted responsibly in leaving their vehicles behind that evening and accepted White’s offer without reason to “feel there was any reason to decline.”
“Their lives were changed in that moment on,” said Merrick of the crash. “Ste. Marie is still significantly affected by the events of Sept. 16,” and injuries both passengers sustained were “significant.”
Porebski said he suffered a broken nose, received stiches on the right side of his scalp and suffered brain damage, from which he is still recovering. He said he returned to work just over a month after the crash.
Ste. Marie, visibly shaken during her Dec. 8 testimony, said she broke her left foot, suffered a concussion and injured her chest and ribs, that her ability to walk is still inhibited and that short-term memory remains an issue. She missed between eight to 10 weeks of work before returning to work part and then full time.
Ste. Marie said the three had attended a house party in Granthams Landing after a celebration at Buono Osteria in Gibsons for Ste. Marie’s and her friend Amanda Amaral’s acclamation as school district trustees, along with White’s acclamation as mayor of Gibsons. She said she witnessed White consume champagne and beer but he did not exhibit signs of intoxication.
Porebski and Ste. Marie left the party to catch a bus or taxi back to Ste. Marie’s home in Bonniebrook but accepted a ride from White instead.
