Video taking off 18x its usual first day

Daughter questions parole ruling in De Jong murder case

Toronto Sun's Brad Hunter centers Sandra Barthel's response in a commentary Short about earlier parole eligibility for her parents' killers.

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Toronto Sun Story of October 21, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 81,934 views a day, 18 times a normal first day on this channel (4,675).

JUNK JUSTICE: Elderly couple murdered, woke judge shrugs

Sandra Barthel's question is direct: "This is Canada. How does this happen here?"

Her parents, Arnold and Joanne De Jong, were murdered during a burglary at their home in Abbotsford, British Columbia, in May 2022. Toronto Sun's new Short presents her response to a judicial decision concerning parole eligibility for the three people convicted of their murders.

The report describes a constitutional challenge to the period prisoners must serve before becoming eligible for parole. It attributes to Justice Brenda Brown a ruling that the 25-year period without parole was "cruel and inhumane." The issue presented is eligibility to seek parole, not an announcement that the prisoners have been released.

Brad Hunter's piece combines reporting with criticism of the decision. Barthel's words give the legal dispute its personal stakes: "They cruelly murdered my mom and dad."

The Short drew roughly 39,000 views in its first eight hours, already well beyond the channel's usual full-day audience for Shorts. Its comment section is also unusually busy, with judicial accountability and sentencing at the center of the discussion.

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