Canada’s Secretary of State addresses killing of Edmonton man after family criticizes criminal justice system
Posted August 13, 2026 4:49 pm.
Last Updated August 13, 2026 4:52 pm.
As the family of an Edmonton business owner killed last week expresses its frustration with Canada’s criminal justice system, the country’s Secretary of State says it’s up to Alberta to toughen the rules.
Secretary of State Ruby Sahota expressed her sympathies to the family of Sukhjit Randhawa while she was in Edmonton Thursday to talk crime and safety.
Randhawa, the owner of a liquor store in the Cromdale neighbourhood, was killed Aug. 5 in what some believe was a robbery gone wrong.
A suspect, 22-year-old Nicholas Butler-Chowace, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection to Randhawa’s death. The allegation against him has not been tested in court.
Authorities say Butler-Chowace was known to police. Court records show he had a lengthy criminal record. In December, he was handed a 45-day sentence after pleading guilty to assault and theft charges – his most recent run-in with the justice system.
Randhawa’s family is questioning how the system handled his file.
“We need to update the system,” Daljit Randhawa, the victim’s brother, said at his funeral Wednesday. “If it is one criminal charge, two criminal charges he has, how is he running around on the road?”
CityNews brought those concerns to Sahota, who says she plans to meet with Randhawa’s family.
“When it comes to bail, we’ve allowed for consecutive sentencing — in our Bail and Sentencing Act Bill C-14 — I think these are the types of thing that will help address this issue,” Sahota replied.
Sahota pointed to recent rollbacks of federal Liberal bail reforms, but also chose to put some pressure on Alberta’s government, saying it needs to play its part in funding the criminal justice system.
“They are the ones that are responsible for administering the court rooms, the prisons that are provincial,” she said. “So it’s important for them to do their part. Law enforcement also falls under them — those that are municipal law-enforcement services — and so they need to be properly resourced.”
CityNews reached out to Alberta’s Justice and Public Safety Ministry for a response to the Secretary of State’s comments but did not immediately hear back.
–With files from Darcy Ropchan
