No criminal record for gun-toting MPP

Despite admitting to owning a restricted and unlicensed handgun, John Snobelen will not have a criminal record.
Noting that the former Mississauga MPP and Ontario cabinet minister made a "foolish mistake" by continuing to possess the weapon and not disposing of it, Justice Steve Brown granted Snobelen, 53, an absolute discharge today in Oakville court.
Last summer, Snobelen, who served as both Education Minister and Natural Resources Minister during his time at Queen's Park from the mid-1990s to 2002, pleaded guilty to careless storage of a firearm and possession of a restricted weapon.
The absolute discharge means Snobelen won't have a criminal record.
"I'm thankful that we've completed this phase. It's not pleasant to admit to the mistake I made in not immediately properly disposing of the gun when I found it, and that's embarrassing," Snobelen said outside court.
The judge also imposed a lifetime weapons ban on Snobelen and ordered him to pay a $1,500 victim fine surcharge, which goes to a provincial fund to help victims of crime.
Snobelen was seeking the discharge because, with a criminal record, it would have been difficult to travel between Canada and the U.S., where he has business and charity interests.
Snobelen often works with universities south of the border and works/consults with people looking to buy horses, among other things.
"Coming back (into Canada) has already been a problem (prior to the absolute discharge), so (being able to go back and forth) is important to me," he said.
Crown prosecutor Tony MacKinnon said Snobelen's possession of an unlicensed handgun is "not a minor matter" and that the gun could have been stolen and used in a crime. MacKinnon was seeking a criminal conviction.
But Justice Brown said Snobelen has suffered enough.
"This has been the public humiliation of an upstanding and contributing member of the community," the judge said in his ruling, adding that the gun was never used in an "inappropriate or threatening manner."
The judge said he received at least 10 character reference letters regarding Snobelen, showing he's "a role model" with a "lifetime commitment to charity and community work."
Snobelen has helped raise millions of dollars for a number of charities in the GTA, including one that helps children who have parents with serious addictions.
Halton Regional Police charged the former politician after he turned himself in on Jan. 12, 2007.
Police executed a search warrant on Jan. 9 last year at Snobelen's home on Nassegaweya Esquesing Town Line in Milton. They seized a Colt .22-calibre semi-automatic pistol, along with ammunition.
Snobelen was elected as MPP for Mississauga North in 1995, and re-elected in 1999 in the redistributed riding of Mississauga West.
In late 2002, it was reported that Snobelen was spending most of his time at a private cattle ranch in Oklahoma while still drawing an MPP's salary. Faced with criticism, he returned to the legislature for most of the 2003 session and resigned his seat on March 17 of that year.
He has since moved back to the GTA.
An agreed statement of facts read by the Crown stated police were called in early January 2007 by Snobelen's estranged wife, who reported he had an unlicensed handgun with ammunition at his farmhouse.
Snobelen told police the firearm came with property included in his purchase of an Oklahoma ranch in 2001 and that when he moved back to Canada in 2003, the gun came along with several other belongings that were packed by various people.
Court heard that when Snobelen located the gun, he intended to dispose of it, but never did.
When Snobelen saw it was gone, he assumed his wife had disposed of it, MacKinnon said.
lrosella@mississauga.net