About 100 people at Queen's Park demand tougher penalties for impaired, dangerous drivers

About 100 people gathered on the grounds of the Ontario legislature on Sunday afternoon to demand tougher penalties for impaired and dangerous drivers.

The rally follows the death of Karolina Ciasullo, 37, who was killed with her three young daughters, Klara, 6, Lilianna, 4, and Mila, 1, in a Brampton crash on June 18.

Brady Robertson, a Caledon, Ont. resident, has been charged with four counts of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death in the fatal crash.

Anna Martin, the sister of Karolina Ciasullo, told the crowd that the sentence that Robertson will face if he is convicted will be too lenient.

"We don't want to live in a country where you take four lives and you are free after only four years in jail," Martin said at Queen's Park.

Members of the crowd were wearing t-shirts that displayed images of Ciasullo and her three daughters.

Jillian McLeod, a Brampton woman who organized the protest, said she would like to see mandatory maximum and minimum sentences for serious driving convictions.

"Right now, an impaired driver gets charged, the judge can give a life sentence but it never gets used. Usually, the driver gets a nine to ten year sentence but they usually serve one-third of that before they apply for parole," she said.

McLeod has circulated a petition that has garnered nearly 83,000 signatures. The goal is to collect 150,000 signatures, she said, then present the demands to the government. 

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) continues to investigate the crash.

According to the SIU, a Peel Regional Police officer travelling westbound on Countryside Drive saw a Blue Infiniti G35 travelling eastbound at about 12 noon on June 18.

According to Peel police, a short time later, in the intersection of Countryside Drive and Torbram Road, the Infiniti "violently collided" with a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas that had been traveling northbound on Torbram Road.

The Infiniti redirected the Volkswagen into a light pole, which fell on top of it.

Police said Ciasullo and her three daughters were in the van. Klara died at the scene, while Karolina and Lilianna died at Brampton Civic Hospital.

Mila was taken to the Brampton hospital, but was then taken to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, where she died of her injuries, police said.

The SIU said Robertson was seriously injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Two other vehicles sustained damage in the crash.

According to police, Robertson was arrested and charged on June 24.

Ciasullo was a Grade 4 teacher at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Elementary School in Brampton.