Damn!!
So if this is all the police has, then he will still be mayor in name until Oct and we all wait for election results.
I, and probably most on this board, expected so much more. Very disappointed if true.
He was always going to still be mayor up to the election. Even if charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Smith's death, he'd get bail until trial which likely wouldn't happen until afterwards anyway. I'm sure a dozen or so pages back it was detailed that as long as Ford remains a free man, he's eligible to remain in office, and even get re-elected.
Under the criminal code, the law treats a conspirator the same as they do the ones who do the "physical" work. If you order a hit, you're going down just as hard if not harder than the guy who actually pulls the trigger.
http://yourlaws.ca/criminal-code-canada/465-conspiracy
"465 - Conspiracy
465. (1) Except where otherwise expressly provided by law, the following provisions apply in respect of conspiracy:
(a) every one who conspires with any one to commit murder or to cause another person to be murdered, whether in Canada or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a maximum term of imprisonment for life;
(b) every one who conspires with any one to prosecute a person for an alleged offence, knowing that he did not commit that offence, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable
(i) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, if the alleged offence is one for which, on conviction, that person would be liable to be sentenced to imprisonment for life or for a term not exceeding fourteen years, or
(ii) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, if the alleged offence is one for which, on conviction, that person would be liable to imprisonment for less than fourteen years;
(c) every one who conspires with any one to commit an indictable offence not provided for in paragraph (a) or (b) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to the same punishment as that to which an accused who is guilty of that offence would, on conviction, be liable; and
(d) every one who conspires with any one to commit an offence punishable on summary conviction is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction."
Extortion is an indictable offense. It's a serious enough of a crime that it can be punishable up to life imprisonment in certain circumstances, and minimum sentences also can apply.
Please, don't be disappointed with an extortion charge. It'd be phenomenal if he was charged with extortion and/or conspiracy to commit extortion. "Fancy lawyers" are also overrated as even the best lawyers can only do so much sometimes. The fact that he was mayor may in fact be to his detriment, since more is expected from him (not from Ford Nation, but the courts tend to see things a little more rationally on these matters), not unlike a situation where punishments are harsher when one takes advantage of their position of authority.
Have some faith. I think he'd do time.