🇨🇦 A Judge Just Rewrote Sentencing Law to Keep a Domestic Abuser in Canada

Adebowale Adekoya — a Nigerian national on a post-graduation work permit — was charged with assault, then violated a no-contact order by moving back into his ex-partner's home for a full week, pressuring her to drop charges while she worked remotely trying to avoid escalation. A New Brunswick judge has now granted him a conditional discharge specifically to prevent deportation. Justice Mario Lanteigne ruled that the risk of Adekoya returning to Nigeria — where he has no family and faces a weaker job market — constitutes undue hardship that outweighs the public interest in enforcement.

Read that again. A man who stalked his ex-partner after a domestic assault charge, obstructed justice, and was ordered deported by the Canada Border Services Agency now gets to stay — because leaving would be economically inconvenient. The trial judge refused this exact request, calling it contrary to the public interest. The appeal judge overruled it anyway. This is Canadian immigration law in 2026: the deportation order exists, the misconduct is documented, and the court still finds a way to make it someone else's problem. Canadian women in abusive situations get no such creative leniency.

🍁 Maple Chronicles