The Pointless Ordeal of Joseph Singleton

The justice system has finally decided that it is finished with Joseph Bradley Singleton.
It's unfortunate, though, that things went this far.
The crown has withdrawn assault charges against the Singleton, which stemmed from an incident just over one year ago near Taber.
Singleton, though, always maintained that when he struck a burglar with the blunt side of a hatchet he was merely protecting his wife.
The RCMP and the crown, however, saw things differently. The decision to withdraw the charge wasn't a sudden change of heart, but rather the fact that Singleton had completed an alternative measures program. That was only agreed to after months of negotiations.
Singleton, though, was never given the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to see how he acted irresponsibly, let alone criminally.
When he and his wife arrived home to their acreage that fateful night, they found one intruder parked out front, and two more on the way with a truck.
Should he have just sat there and hoped that the suspects would quietly leave? Should he have waited to see if indeed the burglar's vehicle would ram the vehicle where Singleton's wife was sitting. That's exactly what Singleton was worried about, and he did what he felt he had to do.
No doubt it was a frightening moment for Singleton and his wife and they were left to deal with it alone.
Having already been victimized by the break-in, they felt as though they were being victimized once again by the system.
Clearly many other Canadians felt the same way, as there was a real groundswell of support for Singleton.
His case and several others played a role in the federal government's decision to introduce a bill amending the criminal code clarifying the rights of Canadians to defend themselves and to make citizen's arrest.
That bill, however, died on the order paper when the recent election was called.
Had this bill been the law in May of last year, it's possible that Singleton would not have had to endure this ordeal.
Those living in rural and remote areas are often on their own in confronting these sorts of situations. We need to give them the benefit of the doubt. We especially do not want to send a message to criminals that these Canadians are easy prey.