More than 115 criminal convictions in B.C.: One chronic offender’s story

As recently as a year ago, chronic offender Francis Joseph Boivin promised to try and straighten himself out and put his life of crime behind him.

A judge told him that although he was 50 years old and had a lengthy criminal record, there was still room for improvement and he could rehabilitate himself.

“I’ll do my best, your honour,” Boivin said at the January 2022 sentencing hearing in a Vancouver courtroom.

Since moving to B.C. from Quebec in 1998, Boivin has accumulated more than 115 criminal convictions, most of them property-related offences to support his drug addiction. Earlier this month, Vancouver police announced new charges against Boivin, accusing him of stealing more than $40,000 in art from a Vancouver art gallery.

He is just one of many chronic offenders who cycle through the criminal justice system.