A man who vandalized a sign in the window of an Edmonton gay bar has been spared a criminal record after completing a restorative justice program with members of the city’s LGBTQ community.
Cameron Mason, 48, was given a 12-month conditional discharge in the Edmonton Court of Justice Wednesday after pleading guilty to a count of mischief.
A forklift operator who lived in St. Albert, Mason admitted to damaging the window of downtown Edmonton’s Evolution Wonderlounge after a night of heavy drinking. Court heard Mason used a key to gouge a sign that read “Protect Trans Kids,” then carved a crucifix into the window glass.
Mason declined a chance to address court, but prosecutor Sean Bodnarek said the accused sought out a restorative justice program shortly after his arrest. Mason later sat down for a “peace making circle process” with members of the LGBTQ community, including Evolution owner Rob Browatzke.
“This is a space that has unfortunately been been vandalized many times, and we’ve never been able to actually sit down with the people that did it and hear what was going on in their head, and then (have them) hear what our reaction to the action was,” Browatzke said in an interview. “I certainly think it’s a much more productive vehicle for a better kind of justice.”
Mason spent the day leading up to the vandalism — Dec. 21, 2024 — drinking heavily after a poker tournament. He passed out in a friend’s vehicle, then awoke early the next day, cold and angry at having been left behind. While walking to a bus, he saw Evolution’s 103 Street bar, took out a key and began scratching the window over the “Protect Trans Kids” decal.
Police obtained CCTV footage of the vandalism but were unable to identify Mason. They released the images to media Feb. 19, 2025, after which Mason turned himself in.
Mason admitted what he had done in an interview with police, but also shared his views about the LGBTQ community, “which were disparaging in nature,” Bodnarek said.
Mason nonetheless took police up on their suggestion he contact the Organization for the Prevention of Violence, an Edmonton group that offers programs for people seeking to disconnect from extremist ideologies, which organized the peace making circle.
Browatzke said since the pandemic, Evolution has had to replace half a dozen doors and windows as a result of vandalism — not all of it hate related. Someone also ripped down and threw a pride flag in the garbage, though Browatzke was unclear whether anyone had been charged.
Browatzke said in he would participate in restorative justice under the right circumstances again, though “obviously, we would prefer that (the vandalism) never happened.”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the world that we are living in,” he said. “But it is something that we would absolutely do again, because I think it does just end up with a with a healthier sense of closure — rather than just ‘here’s jail time, here’s a criminal record.’ That’s just compounding complications and problems in someone’s life.”
Browatzke added: “people’s views take a lifetime to learn, and an equally long lifetime to unlearn. And situations like this are the start of that unlearning.”
Mason has been ordered to make $1,500 in restitution for the damage to the window. His legal counsel, Emilia Elliott, said Mason is currently of “very limited income” and asked that a victim fine surcharge be waived.
Justice Thomas O’Leary found the conditional discharge proposed by Crown and defence was appropriate. Mason will be required to regularly report to a supervisor and complete any programming they recommend, as well as perform 20 hours of community service.
“You, sir, have the absolute right to believe whatever you want,” O’Leary said. “But we draw the line with the criminal law when beliefs cross over into actions.”
jwakefield@postmedia.com
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@jonnywakefield.bsky.social
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