Justice has not been served following the death of an Okotoks man, say those close to him.
Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Schalm was killed in a collision on Highway 3 west of Fort Macleod on Jan. 15, 2023. The woman found responsible for the crash was sentenced to house arrest, a curfew and a driving suspension two years later during a sentencing earlier this month.
The driver, Mary Many Bears, was sentenced in a Fort Macleod courtroom to a conditional sentence of two years less a day — eight months under house arrest and the remaining time as curfew — and a five-year driving suspension.
Ahead of sentencing, Many Bears pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death last September.
The court process left Schalm’s mother, Michelle Schalm, with her faith in the justice system shaken.
“We were in court 17, 18 times,” she said. “Sometimes we were just a five-minute thing, and they adjourned it because one lawyer didn't get the disclosure. (There were) crazy things that happened during the process, the things that were so disrespectful really to the victims.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Matthew Schalm’s close friend Matthew Rose, who survived the collision and was forced to relive it in court.
“We were kind of given a heads up beforehand that the potential sentencing wasn't going to be quite what we wanted, and it definitely was far from that,” said Rose.
“I know during the actual day, it was extremely emotional, and pretty exhausting on all ends, just listening to everyone's victim impact statements, and just, in my case, reliving the day, and just all the heartbreak it basically gave everyone,” he continued.
Rose remembers the incident vividly.
“I left my house in Cochrane, went down to his place in Okotoks around 6 a.m., and there we left,” he said, recalling the two were going fishing.
“Once we've turned onto Highway 3, we see a set of headlights ahead of us. The car, the other vehicle, wasn't slowing down,” he continued.
Matthew’s car swerved into the ditch in an attempt to avoid the collision, but Many Bears turned in that direction as well.
“I looked over, I saw Matt was laid out still. I tried shaking him to wake him,” Rose said. “I could hear another girl screaming, but it sounded too young to be a driver.”
The collision left Rose seriously injured, as well as Many Bears’ five-year-old daughter.
“I was forced to leave the scene and arrive at the hospital in Lethbridge. It wasn't until probably about an hour, hour and a half after they had done all their checks on me and stitched me up that I was let to know by an officer that Matt didn't make it,” he said.
“It's basically engraved in my mind. I can't forget anything of it.”
Rose, 28, has gone through extensive physiotherapy and continues to receive treatment.
“Hearing that the person who essentially killed my friend, injured me in a way that I'm still dealing with, injured her daughter, but wasn't charged for that… doesn't feel fair at all,” he said.
“It's very frustrating. It's a lot of what feels like jerking our side around and just delaying the inevitable to get a better chance for the defendant.”
Fourteen victim impact statements were read during the sentencing.
“One of the things the judge said is that they are to look at all possible options before sentencing to jail time or anything like that, because it is a rehabilitative process, but I don't feel that in the two years that it's been since the accident, and the two years she'll have to spend under house arrest and curfew, is enough to change how and what happened,” said Rose. “I don't feel it's exactly a severe enough punishment to ask someone to rethink what they've done.”
Schalm’s mother was determined to make sure her son was more than “just another name on the news,” she said.
“So I spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to make him be more than that in the process,” she said. “I want them to see his smiling face, I want them to know that he was larger than life… he was an amazing singer and he was a professional fishing guide.”
Family and friends wore shirts in honour of Matthew Schalm at the sentencing, and banners and balloons were set up in front of the courthouse.
In addition, Schalm wrote a song in her son’s memory titled Don't Sweat the Small Stuff.
“I needed to write that song,” she said. “Was it anywhere near my best vocal performance? No, but it was heartfelt and it was something that kind of just encapsulated who he was.”
Schalm has done a lot of writing after her son’s death, she said.
“I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with that, but I have songs about him and about the process, and writings about grief, and I I would love to be able to do something with that in the future.”
She hopes to consolidate her writings into a book, and has plans to host an annual fishing derby and fishing lessons for kids in honour of her son.
His love for fishing inspired those around him, including Rose.
“Matt has been a huge impact on my life and who I am today,” said Rose. “He's the one who reintroduced me into fishing, and one of the biggest reasons I used to go out was to spend time with him and adventure around our home province.
“I can probably count on both hands the amount of times I've gone fishing since then. He was an amazing man and I'm very upset that my new daughter doesn't get to meet him. That part of my life is gone.”
