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![\"RUTH](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4085753_web1_260409-STALKING-CASE-W--.jpg\")
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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt became very apparent very quickly that if I wanted to be safe and be protected, that was my job. That was our responsibility,\u201d Emma said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Emma, who asked to withhold her last name, described scrambling to secure a protection order, contact police and document the numerous instances in which she says Liwyj appeared at her home and workplace before he was arrested.<\/p>\n
Her story represents the reality for many women in Canada, who find themselves isolated and vulnerable as they navigate a justice system poorly equipped to support stalking victims and treat offenders.<\/p>\n
While Canada\u2019s Criminal Code recognizes stalking as an offence, referring to it as criminal harassment, experts say resources and information about the crime are limited, and women often find their concerns minimized or dismissed \u2014 sometimes with violent consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a profound issue. Canada has one of the worst responses to stalking of any country in the western world in terms of resources,\u201d said Julie Lalonde, the founder and executive director of the Canadian Anti-Stalking Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this huge gap in awareness about stalking\u2026 People don\u2019t know where to turn, and they don\u2019t know who to call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manitoba does have some support in place to help women access protection orders, navigate the court process and access counselling, but such programs are mostly catered to victims of domestic violence, agreed Tsungai Muvingi Van Landeghem, provincial co-ordinator for the Manitoba Association of Women\u2019s Shelters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea who this person was, what he was capable of or how far he would go.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone is being stalked by\u2026 a stranger\u2026 they don\u2019t often neatly fit into those specific systems, so what we then see is survivors are left piecing together support on their own; calling police, seeking legal protection, documenting evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Landeghem stressed the impact of stalking on victims can be \u201cquite intense\u201d and it is a known risk factor for more serious forms of violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cStalking is often misunderstood as just harassment, but it is actually a form of ongoing psychological violence. Victims live in a constant state of fear, they are hyper vigilant,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen we minimize it, we\u2019re missing an opportunity to intervene before things escalate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout August, Emma said she reported at least eight interactions with Liwyj to police, including an instance in which he was caught on a neighbour\u2019s surveillance camera peering into the duplex\u2019s windows. On another occasion he set up a temporary encampment in her backyard and spent hours lounging in a lawn chair, refusing to leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became very apparent very quickly that if I wanted to be safe and be protected, that was my job. That was our responsibility,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was exhausting, to be honest. All the documentation, all the calls, being on edge, looking over my shoulder, having to write down incident numbers, calling the police, waiting for police.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this huge gap in awareness about stalking\u2026. People don\u2019t know where to turn, and they don\u2019t know who to call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liwyj, 59, would ultimately be arrested and held in custody on Aug. 28 for violating a protection order Emma sought against him on Aug. 7. By that time, he had already been warned by police to stay away, and was arrested and released for breaching the order just days before.<\/p>\n
He was denied bail last September and remained in custody until a hearing on March 17, when he admitted to disobeying a court order and failing to comply with a non-contact order imposed during his previous release. Several other charges were stayed in exchange for his guilty plea, including one of criminal harassment.<\/p>\n
The plea deal meant the Manitoba courts would never hear the full extent of what Emma described as a targeted campaign to terrorize her and her mother.<\/p>\n
Instead, the proceedings focused primarily on just two instances in which Liwyj admitted to knowingly defying court orders.<\/p>\n
Lalonde said it is not uncommon for stalking charges to be pleaded down to lesser or alternative offences, such as trespassing or breaching court orders, because they are easier to prove in court.<\/p>\n
Data from the Winnipeg Police Service\u2019s 2024 annual statistical report shows officers logged 92 cases of criminal harassment that year. However, only a fraction of those ever appeared before a judge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (correctional facilities) are really, for the most part, overcrowded places where people basically end up being warehoused.\u201d<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada figures indicate Manitoba courts rendered decisions in just 24 stalking cases that year, resulting in nine convictions. In more than half of the cases \u2014 15 \u2014 charges were stayed or withdrawn.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of a larger trend that plays out in courts across the country.<\/p>\n
In 2023 and 2024, Canadian courts rendered decisions on 3,110 charges of criminal harassment. Of those, just 1,273 (41 per cent) resulted in a guilty conviction. Meanwhile, 1,738 (55 per cent) were stayed or withdrawn, Statistics Canada data shows.<\/p>\n
University of Manitoba associate law professor Brandon Trask said a conviction of criminal harassment carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in custody and is considered a serious offence. However, the cases often involve complicated factors for the courts to consider.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur criminal justice system involves so many people with complicated backgrounds as far as mental-health considerations, addictions issues\u2026 and so, this is one of the reasons why it\u2019s not always the right answer to throw the book at an individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do need to balance the different goals of sentencing, including trying to allow for rehabilitation. It\u2019s a very tough balance.\u201d<\/p>\n
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During the March hearing, Judge Sidney Lerner sentenced Liwyj to approximately six months in custody and two years of supervised probation.<\/p>\n
Accounting for his time already served in custody, Liwyj was released that day.<\/p>\n
Court heard Liwyj is a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, who suffers from hearing loss as a result of his duties. Few other biographical details were available because he had no previous criminal record in Manitoba.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Gregory Sacks said his client was homeless for several years, but was reluctant to access supports from shelter services in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis homelessness has had an impact on him,\u201d Sacks said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that Mr. Liwyj, after having served the country in that fashion, finds himself in a situation where he\u2019s not able to really support himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lerner said it is unclear what motivated Liwyj\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know precisely what happened here \u2013 I don\u2019t know that we will ever know.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know precisely what happened here \u2014 I don\u2019t know that we will ever know,\u201d Lerner said. \u201cThis seems to have come out of nowhere except for the fact that Mr. Liwyj has been unhoused for a number of years, which can suggest some other issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liwyj was given the opportunity to speak at the end of the sentencing hearing, after Crown prosecutor Patrick Benjamin read victim impact statements written by Emma and her mother into the court record.<\/p>\n
He said he did not realize he was causing the women such distress.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter hearing the victim statements, I seriously think that she should probably seek help on her own because I\u2019ve never been that much of a threat to her in any way,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Liwyj did not undergo a mental-health assessment ahead of his sentencing, and the court did not order him to participate in any mandatory treatment or counselling, unless recommended by his probation officer.<\/p>\n
Emma said she disagreed with that decision.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n On one occasion Anthony Edward Liwyj set up a temporary encampment in Emma’s backyard and spent hours lounging in a lawn chair, refusing to leave.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I wanted is for this person to have a psychological assessment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t it make sense to get him a psych assessment, get him on some proper medications or get a diagnosis and get to the root of whatever issue is actually going on to prevent it from happening again?\u201d<\/p>\n Frank Cormier, a criminologist and University of Manitoba professor, said it\u2019s not so simple.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem with being on remand is that, generally, you don\u2019t get any services while you\u2019re in there,\u201d Cormier said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, being found guilty and sentenced to custody can be better because then you are eligible for the various rehabilitative services that you can get through a correctional institution.\u201d<\/p>\n Cormier stressed the psychology and motivations of a person accused of criminal harassment can be difficult to nail down \u2014 particularly in the rare cases where they have no known connection to the apparent target of their fascination.<\/p>\n Trask agreed that a major shortcoming in Manitoba\u2019s justice system is the lack of mental-health supports available to people in custody.<\/p>\n \u201cCorrectional facilities are, sadly, not really places that most people go to and get better. They are really, for the most part, overcrowded places where people basically end up being warehoused,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to realize that investing in mental-health supports and services for folks in custody is actually an investment in society.\u201d<\/p>\n As a condition of his supervised probation, the courts imposed an order barring Liwyj from entering the Osborne Village area.<\/p>\n That condition is in place to keep him at least 300 metres away from Emma\u2019s workplace, but the boundary was reduced to just 200 metres from her home because Liwyj has a close friend living in an apartment tower two blocks away.<\/p>\n Emma said she feels unsafe knowing Liwyj is permitted to remain nearby, noting, \u201cWe can literally see the building from our front yard.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither she nor her mother has seen Liwyj in the weeks since he was released. While they are hopeful he will abide by his conditions, their experience has left a lasting feeling of unease, she said.<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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