The parents of a young woman killed by a drunk driver say they didn’t get the justice they were seeking after meeting with Manitoba’s justice minister at the legislature Thursday.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe told the family he stands by the Crown’s decision not to follow the police recommendation to prosecute the man who gave the impaired driver his keys before a collision killed 24-year-old Jordyn Reimer in 2022. Wiebe also said he won’t ask for a third-party review of the decision.
“It was a very disappointing meeting,” said Karen Reimer, Jordyn Reimer’s mother. “I’m pretty angry,” added the victim’s father, Doug Reimer, wiping away tears. He told the Free Press he felt “used” by Wiebe who, in the run up to last fall’s election, and before being appointed justice minister, agreed with the couple that charging the man who allegedly enabled Goodman to drive impaired made sense.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Karen and Doug Reimer said they were shocked and angry after their meeting with Justice Minister Matt Wiebe.
Wiebe said there wasn’t sufficient evidence for a conviction and that his government plans to toughen legislation surrounding impaired driving but refused to provide details. Wiebe’s staff provided reporters with a five-page explanation from Manitoba Prosecution Service of why it won’t prosecute.
“We want to express our condolences to the Reimer family — they’re very strong advocates in Jordyn’s memory, ” Wiebe said after his second meeting with her parents in four months. “I expressed how much I appreciate the advocacy they’ve undertaken to turn this tragedy into something that will prevent this from happening again.”
The Reimers, wearing Justice for Jordyn T-shirts, said laws already exist to punish those who aid and abet a crime, and that Winnipeg police told them that there is sufficient evidence to charge one of Tyler Scott Goodman’s passengers with criminal negligence causing death.
Jordyn Reimer was a designated driver when her car was T-boned on May 1, 2022, by Goodman, who was driving 108 km/h in a 50 km/h zone intersection of Bond Street and Kildare Avenue W. in Transcona.
Goodman was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to impaired driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident in November. He is eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence, or 28 months.
In its statement Thursday, the prosecution service said Goodman and his passengers spent several hours drinking at Joe’s Pandora Inn, where a woman at the bar took Goodman’s truck keys to prevent him from driving. One of his passengers took the keys from her. She told him Goodman should not drive and the passenger told her that he would drive, as he wasn’t as intoxicated as Goodman.
Surveillance video showed Goodman and three passengers approach the vehicle and it appeared the person with the keys unlocked the doors before they entered. Police later found the key fob in the front passenger side door pocket.
The Crown said it would need to prove the passenger intended to assist Goodman, and that he knew or was wilfully blind to the fact that Goodman was too impaired to drive. The passenger’s intoxication, it said, could have prevented him from intentionally aiding or abetting Goodman. There was no evidence Goodman exhibited “significant outward signs” of being impaired before leaving the bar, the Crown said.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
The Reimers, wearing Justice for Jordyn T-shirts, said laws already exist to punish those who aid and abet a crime.
The video showed him talking to the passenger who took his keys but it’s unclear what was said. The Crown said that gap could lead to a reasonable inference that Goodman reassured the passenger he was OK to drive, or that he insisted he owned the truck and so he would drive.
There is no reported case law where criminal liability has been found in similar circumstances and charging a passenger in such a case would be “novel,” the Crown said. It said it couldn’t prove the case against the passenger beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence and “alternative reasonable inferences.”
Wiebe said that decision has been put under a microscope and he has faith in the Crown’s decision not to proceed.
“My goal in talking to the Reimers has always been to ensure the proper attention has been paid to this case, and I feel confident that our prosecutors have done that.”
The Reimers say they want an out-of-province prosecutor to review it and won’t stop pushing the government until that happens.
“We want justice for our daughter,” Karen Reimer said.
Going after an enabler in such a case would set a precedent in a culture that for decades has turned a blind eye to impaired driving, said Doug Reimer.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe Wiebe said there wasn’t sufficient evidence for a conviction against the passenger.
“It could put Manitoba on the map as a pioneer and a leader and could save lives,” Karen Reimer said. “They are cowardly not wanting to pursue this. We’re not done.”
The parents plan to seek a meeting with Premier Wab Kinew, saying he’s promised to be tough on crime.
“This is an example of how they could be more tough on crime,” she said. “This is absolutely in the best interest of the public.”
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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