STEVEN PHILIPPE REMEMBERED AT ANNUAL VIGIL FOR VICTIMS OF DRUNK DRIVING IN OTTAWA
Jocelyn Philippe and her husband Dan remember their son and his friends who were killed by a drunk driver in 2009.
Steven Philippe's Aunts and Grandmother (centre) remember the young man they loved dearly at MADD's annual vigil for victims of drunk driving in Ottawa. Photo Melissa Philippe
OTTAWA, ON – October 28th, Jocelyne Philippe accompanied by her husband and several other family members, attended the Annual Candelight Vigil on Parliament Hill, by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), in honour of those killed by drunk drivers and those who survive them.
Jocelyne’s son Steven was killed at just 16 years of age while walking with Caitlin Jelley (15), and Jazmine Houle (15) who were also tragically killed when the 3 were struck down by a drunk driver in Hanmer (Sudbury) June 21st, 2009. The man responsible for their deaths, Nicolas Piovesan, had been drinking at a Hanmer (City of Greater Sudbury) bar that evening, drove his car into the teens, who were walking along the side of the road, killing them. Piovesan, then 27, did not stop until he crashed his vehicle into the side of a home. In 2010, he was sentenced to seven years in jail for three counts of criminal negligence causing death.
At the vigil, Jocelyne holds a card with the same photos as the shirt she wears, images of her son Steven and his two friends, Caitlin and Jazmine, and all three killed tragicly by a drunk driver.
Though the press widely covered Pivosean being denied bail this July 4th, 2012 including comments by Karen Thomson, communications manager for the Parole Board of Canada who had said that the parole board assessed the risks associated with granting day parole to Piovesan and decided that “Public safety is the paramount consideration for the board, which has to determine if the risk is manageable in the community, and at this point, the board has determined that (Piovesan’s) risk is not manageable”, there was little mention when, just a few weeks later, he was granted permission to work at a gas station in the same community as the prison where he is serving his sentence. Jocelyne Phillipe had been advised that Piovesan would be permitted to leave the prison for work, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week a slap in the face to the families of the deceased teens who, along with their families and all those who mourned them, had breathed a sigh of relief when learning of his being denied parole as many had believed this meant he might actually be made to serve his full sentence. “Our children are gone forever” said Phillippe during an interview shortly after she had learned of Piovesan being given permission to work in the community just 2 years after being sentence to 7 years in prison for having killed the three teens.
The vigil in Ottawa is one of many for the Phillipe family, since loosing her son in 2009 Jocelyne Philippe has been a driving force behind the Impact 6/21 Foundation which, in addition to fundraising to assist with travel costs for the immediate families of the three youth to attend things like Pivosean’s parole hearing to provide victim impact statements, also raises awareness of the dangers of drunk driving.
