‘It’s not like the movies’: ex-gang members share personal realities

“They treated me like family. Well, that’s what they make you think.”

Through his teenage years, Gardiner found himself stuck in a cycle of selling drugs, performing home invasions, and starting physical fights. Eventually his family began to disown him for the lifestyle that he chose.

That’s when he moved to Prince Albert.

“I lived in PA for about 20 years. I basically began running the streets over there, I became a higher up,” he explained.

Over eight years ago, Gardiner was arrested with his first federal sentence for drug trafficking, he was released on parole, then was caught with drugs again.

“I turned my three years into an eight and a half year sentence. But I’m kind of glad I got picked up the second time, I realized gang life wasn’t for me.”

Christopher Caron then took the stage and, much like Gardiner, shared how he had become involved with a gang at a young age.

“All my life, I grew up with a broken family. My dad was a pimp, my mom was an alcoholic… I saw a lot of violence and a lot of stabbings,” the Saskatoon man explained.

At six years old, Caron had his first drink of alcohol. He became an alcoholic at an early age and that slowly evolved to harder drugs.

“I became a gang member. I wanted to be like me dad, he was a well-respected street guy. That’s the example I took from him.”

Caron continued to explain the night that changed his entire life.

“One night I got high on pills, and I took a gun and I went and tried to kill somebody. I had enough of addiction and I wanted to put myself in jail for the rest of my life.”

That night, he shot a man four times in an attempt to take his life and after serving five years in prison, he went straight back to the gang.

It wasn’t until his daughter woke up without a birthday present that he decided to improve his life.

“I thought, I need to change for that little girl. What good am I in jail? And my little girl is suffering out there with no birthday present.”

Although Caron and Gardiner lived different lives, across the province from each other, they shared one thing in common; they both received help from Str8 Up, an organization that helps people leave gang lifestyles through outreach, mentorship, and support.

The two men are now sober, working typical jobs, and have stable relationships with their children.

Perspective

Both former gang members share similar views when it comes to youth getting involved with gang activity. They believe some have no choice, and others need a sense of belonging.

“There’s such a problem right now with addiction and poverty. We need more resources, more mentors, and more outreach. We need people involved, coming together to help our youth and our next generation,” said Caron.

That’s why the men share their personal stories as a ‘wake-up call’ for others, especially youth who may be headed down the wrong path.

“It’s not like the movies,” said Gardiner. “People think it’s fun and games, but its real life and people get hurt.”

He describes the feeling of addiction and the gang lifestyle as a never-ending cycle, which ultimately places people in prison and creates a high number of repeat offenders.

“To some people, that’s all they know. They get out, they don’t have a family, or they don’t have a home to go to. All they know is crime, gangs, stuff like that, so they just keep going back to jail,” Gardiner explained.

For them, gang life means a child with no birthday present or family on the phone begging them to come home. Their stories show that families, children, and communities pay the price, and that’s something they hope to show through their own mentorship.

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

‘It’s not like the movies’: ex-gang members share personal realities

Perspective

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