Former N.S. cocaine addict celebrates two years clean: ‘Today is a momentous day for you’

Craig Boutilier greeted the judge like an old friend.

The former crack cocaine addict was about to finish a two-year stretch of probation ordered by then-Halifax provincial court Judge Amy Sakalauskas that helped Boutilier turn away from a life of crime.

“Hi Miss Amy. How are you?” the 54-year-old said Tuesday in the Dartmouth provincial courtroom where Sakalauskas now presides.

“Today is a big day for me.”

“Today is a momentous day for you really,” said the judge.

‘Different person’

Boutilier’s lawyer, Sarah White, told the court her client is “a very different person than he was” when a pair of residential break-and-enters landed him in front of Sakalauskas for sentencing.

It was a spot he knew well, having racked up more than 300 convictions over the last three decades.

“We have a happy, healthy, pro-social Mr. Boutilier today, whereas two years ago when we were before the court, we had something completely opposite,” White said.

“We come into court for sentencing hearings, and we hear all the bad things that people do all the time. And it’s not very often that we have the opportunity to see someone like Craig, who has been in the system for 30-plus years, coming to court to show what you can do when you believe in yourself, and you have other people that believe in you. And the biggest thing, I think, is when the court gives you a chance when there are community supports in place. And that has been the biggest change for Mr. Boutilier.”

‘Bottom of my heart’

Around this point, Boutilier was itching to interrupt.

“Judge Amy, can I give you something from the bottom of my heart?” he said.

Boutilier had a card he’d made for the judge. She didn’t open it right away, but inside he thanked Sakalauskas for taking a chance on him and not putting him in jail.

At one point during the hearing, Sakalauskas made the rare move to walk down from her bench to shake his hand and accept the card, forcing Boutilier to turn away briefly as he started to cry.

‘Real serious, real quick’

Sakalauskas recalled seeing Boutilier appear in court multiple times over the years on the Halifax side of the harbour.

“At first it was pretty minor stuff, you know, just stealing from a store,” said the judge.

“And then you got real serious, real quick.”

For the break-ins, the Crown had recommended four years in federal prison. His defence lawyer argued successfully for time served, with two years of probation.

“Jail is only a Band-Aid that does not help with rehabilitation and we are looking for something that sticks longer in these exceptional circumstances,” Sakalauskas said at the time.

On top of his addiction, a neuropsychological assessment completed before his sentencing shows Boutilier’s general intelligence is very low, said the judge.

“He is impaired in most areas of intellectual functioning including processing speed, attention, learning and memory, and executive functioning. Mr. Boutilier struggled on most activities during his assessment, even those that young children would be able to complete.”

‘Took a chance’

Flash forward to today and, with lots of help kicking crack cocaine and a safe place to sleep in a Kentville small options home, Boutilier has managed to stay clean and even find jobs cleaning the Berwick rink and running his own landscaping business during the summers.

“Everyone took a chance back then, and you proved to everyone that you deserved it,” Sakalauskas said this week during Boutilier’s final parole review hearing.

The judge took some time Tuesday to go through a report from Boutilier’s parole officer, who interviewed Chris Oxner, the supervisor running the small options home.

“It is with a happy heart that I am writing this today. Craig has been with New Vision under the direct care of myself and my team for nearly two years now,” Oxner wrote.

‘Shell of a person’

“When he came to us, he was a shell of a person, to say the least. He was angry, untrusting, manipulative and not very pleasing to be around in general. He was initially unaccepting of the support we were proposing and was not able to see the life he could have if he willed it. But after continuous conversations, all with a positive approach, Craig began to see that his current situation was different than any he had ever experienced, and he could very well have a life that was unlike the one he’d been living for the past 30 years.”

Oxner reported that Boutilier is now in control of his emotions, can communicate positively, has positive relationships with the staff of the home where he lives, as well as those outside the home, and his family. He noted Boutilier has a great work ethic, keeps to his schedule and is respectful with New Dawn staffers.

“Your progress has been tremendous,” Sakalauskas said.

“You’ve battled through difficult times and inspired those around you.”

It hasn’t been a straight path.

Boutilier got caught breaking into another home in February of 2021 and stayed in jail until December of that year. When he got out again, his lawyer had trouble getting Boutilier access to services, or a place to live until White did a little bureaucratic arm-twisting and an opening materialized at the Kentville small options home where he will continue to live now that his probation is done, through funding with the province’s disability support program.

‘Exceeded any expectations’

“The work that you’ve done exceeded any expectations I had,” Sakalauskas said Tuesday. “You haven’t even had another charge; you were always getting charges.”

Sakalauskas said she often conducts probation reviews off the record.

“But I thought it was really important today, especially for this final one, for it to be on the record,” said the judge.

“And I’m hoping that this is the final time that your name is going to be mentioned in the provincial court.”

Outside court, Boutilier was adamant about one thing: “I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever touch crack cocaine again.”

‘I am at ease’

Beaming with pride, he posed for photos with White and Oxner in the courthouse lobby.

“I feel blessed,” Boutilier said. “I’m at ease.”

He doesn’t have to worry any more about his mother, who lives in Chester, getting calls that he’s in trouble again with the law. Boutilier hopes she’ll visit him for Christmas.

“Happy-go-lucky,” Boutilier said of his current state.

He still has lots of work to do.

“He’s been 100 per cent clean for 24 months,” Oxner said. “We’ve had our setbacks, but he always powers through. We’re going to absolutely celebrate this and then move forward and get him to a point where he can possibly live independently.”

Donair bribes

Is Oxner still bribing Boutilier with the occasional donair, like he did to lure him to Kentville in the first place?

“Yessir,” Oxner said with a chuckle. “That’s actually what we’re doing tonight.”

Boutilier likes having his own room, which he’s decorated with photos of pro wrestlers. He’s also a hockey and baseball fan.

“I told Craig if he stays out of trouble long enough that my partner and I, my family, if we can get the travel documents, we’ll go to a game,” White said, noting it might have to be in Montreal as his criminal record would cause trouble at the border.

Boutilier knows who he wants to see beat the Montreal Canadiens when that night rolls around.

“Philadelphia’s my favourite hockey team,” he said.

‘A little chat’

On a more melancholy note, now that he’s a free man, Boutilier hopes to visit his father’s grave in Seabright. A heart attack killed him 13 years ago and Boutilier still misses him terribly.

“I’m going to have little chat at his gravesite with him,” Boutilier said.

Boutilier is saddened by the proliferation of people living in tents around Halifax.

“That could have been me.”

He used to live in a crack den.

“Craig was chronically homeless,” White said.

“He had a closet he would sometimes live in, in a rooming house … There’s not a lot of motivation to stay clean and stay out of trouble when you have nothing to go back to.”

Course change

She teaches a course on sentencing at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law. Boutilier’s come in twice to give guest lectures on how to work with clients, and she’s trying to get him a speaking gig at a criminal law conference next summer in Halifax.

“Craig has changed the course of my career significantly,” White said.

“He’s made me realize that with the proper supports, people can change, and that tacking on these numbered jail sentences – 30 days, 20 days, 60 days – is a really ineffective use of everyone’s time.”