The Everol Powell Story: Tales of a broken justice system

BY BRITTNEY CHANNER

When an individual, thinks about the idea of justice and one’s access to it within Canada, many would agree that it represents all the principles that would exude equity, objectivity and just authority. Additionally, when we compare our ideals of justice with the ideals of other countries, one would assume that we have a system that allows wrongs or harms that have been done to people or institutions to be corrected smoothly and swiftly.

However, there are many flaws within the Canadian justice system that do not allow for real justice to accurately be practiced and sometimes many people fall victim to these flaws. Such flaws of justice were experienced by Everol Powell, a prosperous and thriving entrepreneur who emigrated from Jamaica to make a name for himself and his family, only to have his life and hard work shattered to pieces right before his eyes.

This tale of unfortunate events reveals its ugly head in the Kawartha Lakes; a small unitary municipality located in Central Ontario. Kawartha Lakes is made up a number of communities such as Lindsay and Fenelon Falls to name a few, and it is here where Mr. Powell began to establish himself within the hospitality industry.

With Mr. Powell’s extensive background within this industry, one could imagine how elated he was when he finally opened his first restaurant in 1999 and continued to create more authentic dining experiences within the Kawartha Lakes area, however, all of that changed the morning of February 20^th, 2014.

Everol Powell was arrested by Kawartha Lakes OPP, the Canadian Border Services, Waterloo Regional Police, and Service Canada on eight charges each of human trafficking, eight counts of material benefits and one count of theft over $5,000. These charges were based on an investigation that was conducted months earlier which accused Powell of allegedly employing illegal workers and forcing them to work for low wages.

On top of those charges, Powell spent six days in jail before being released to his wife on probation as his surety. The strict probation limitations prevented him from going to work and attending personal appointments. Additionally, Mr. Powell was within weeks of opening his new restaurant before the arrest and his jail stay forced him to use his money toward legal fees.

When Powell opened his first restaurant, he had a unique and specific vision which allowed him to generate the idea of hiring Caribbean nationals using the federal governments Temporary Foreign Worker program. So, it wasn’t surprising to him or those around him that he would continue to use the program in his other restaurant business ventures to give foreign staff the opportunity to find meaningful work.

Due to a lack of evidence and witness corroboration from his staff in reference to the human trafficking accusation, no charges were laid against him and as more charges were reviewed, Mr. Powell was issued an absolute discharge in July 2016. Two years of daunting and callous legal turmoil, Mr. Powell was finally cleared of all the accusations and charges against him. After such a disheartening couple of years, one might assume that Mr. Powell has been able to live a normal life and continue to rebuild himself to a point where he last left off; but unfortunately, that is far from the truth. Mr. Powell has been proven innocent on all accounts and yet he continues to be harassed by the police through constant monitoring of his whereabouts.

Additionally, his dreams of continuing his work within the restaurant industry have ended as he was forced to permanently close his main restaurant Wimpey’s in 2018. The additional business he was working on at the time of his arrest did not have the opportunity to open the doors to the public either. Everol’s reputation has taken a huge blow as the charges have made it difficult for him to recover from the multitude of losses he has experienced.

Powell’s family are still coping from the trauma from the stated events and are hoping they can get back to a place of normalcy. Unfortunately, the police have yet to recant their accusations or provide a public statement to the public clearing Everol Powell’s name and advocating for his innocence.

Everol Powell’s story represents a heart-rending tale of a broken justice system and its victims. In a country where justice is argued to function appropriately and fairly, Everol’s life will never be the same due to the blatant miscarriage of justice that was carried out that morning of February 20^th.

At the moment, Mr. Powell is still in need of a devoted advocate who would be willing to support his legal case and get him the justice that he rightfully deserves. Everol Powell; a hard-working, passionate and career driven man deserves to fulfill his life dreams to his utmost potential and the wrongs of February 20^th, 2014 must be righted.

If you or anyone you know can assist him in his drive toward justice, please feel free to reach out to me at the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper for further details.