Nova Scotia hitman case reinforces gender bias of Canadian courts

Article here. Excerpt:

'The more I read, the more bizarre it got.

The Supreme Court of Canada [external] ruled this week on a case where an allegation of spousal abuse – never substantiated – is the heart of a troubling story that has concluded in law, but has certainly not brought any sense of moral closure to those who track gender bias in the courts. Quite the opposite, in fact.
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Now both the Nova Scotia Appeal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada have ruled that the trial judge erred in acquitting Nicole “without question” of her testimony. In other words, they grant that what Nicole told the court about her husband was totally unsubstantiated, and therefore her acquittal has rightfully been overturned. But the stay of proceedings means she is off the hook for another trial. The reasoning was that she had been through enough already. “The abuse she suffered and the protracted nature of these proceeding(s) have taken an enormous toll on her,” the judges wrote (with one dissent). “It is an exceptional situation that warrants an exceptional remedy.”

“Abuse she suffered?” We don’t know that. They’re taking her word for it again. And what about what Michael Ryan has been through? His new life with a military woman in Ontario, with his daughter and a new baby, has been turned upside down. He has been branded a monster by the media. And he has never been granted his day in court at any of the three levels of justice. In a Youtube address, he denies every single allegation, adding a great deal of background about Nicole that paints a very different portrait from her own self-presentation. Isn’t justice worth another trial to get at the truth?'