Brayden Bushby, who threw a trailer hitch from of a moving vehicle at an Indigenous woman in Thunder Bay in 2017, and was convicted of manslaughter for his actions, has been granted full parole by the Parole Board of Canada (PBC).
Bushby threw his trailer hitch at Barbara Kentner of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation in January of 2017.
After the attack, Bushby was heard laughing and saying that “he got one.”
Kentner died of health complications from being struck in the abdomen by the trailer hitch a few months after the assault.
Bushby was sentenced to 7 years and 11 months in prison, and began his sentence on June 7, 2021.
Now Kentner’s community of Wabigoon Lake is reacting with shock, anger, and grief at the news of Bushby’s parole.
“This decision is not only appalling — it is a painful reminder of the deep and persistent discrimination that continues to infect Canada’s justice system,” reads a statement from the community.
The release goes on to say that Bushby’s parole “sends a devastating message that Indigenous lives are treated as expendable. It undermines every principle of justice, accountability, and deterrence that the court sought to uphold.”
The Nishnawbe Aski Nation also weighed in on the decision in its own release, saying the announcement “feels like a profound injustice,” and that “it is incomprehensible to us that the board has granted him the full parole he asked for even though its own decision states that he has not expressed remorse for the victim and has indicated that he simply ‘wants to move on.'”
In the PBC’s decision to grant Bushby parole, it examined his history with substance abuse, as well as his actions during incarceration and on prior parole outings, which included obtaining a confederate flag tattoo, leaving the scene of a minor vehicle collision without reporting the incident, driving under the influence of alcohol, and carving a swastika into the lawn on his prison grounds.
Weighed against Bushby’s actions were his low risk of reoffending, his lack of prior criminal history, and his completion of substance abuse programs.
In its decision, the PBC “places a lot of weight on [his] performance while on [his] current day parole that commenced in December 2025. There are no documented breaches, demonstrating compliance.”
The seven conditions of Bushby’s parole are as follows:
- No consuming, purchasing, or possessing alcohol.
- No consuming, purchasing, or possessing drugs other than prescribed or over the counter medications.
- No entering drinking establishments.
- Bushby must follow his treatment plan, arranged by his parole supervisor, which will cover areas of substance abuse, attitude, mental health, and emotions management
- No contact with individuals known or suspected to be involved in criminal activity and substance abuse
- No contact with the victim’s immediate family members
- Bushby must report all sexual and non-sexual relationships and friendships, as well as any changes to the status of friendships or relationships, to his parole supervisor.
