He would probably be dead today -- a casualty of prison "justice" -- if he had not been exculpated by DNA evidence. And there are the victims of Dr. Charles Smith, the Ontario "expert" witness whose testimony led to so many homicide charges and wrongful convictions, especially of mothers whose children died unexpectedly.
The Canadian criminal justice system is clunky and awkward, often doing the right thing for the wrong reason, and the wrong thing for the right reason, but at least we have managed to do away with the death penalty. It's hard to offer restitution to a wrongfully convicted person who is 10 years dead.
On the other hand, the case of Russell Williams (may his name live in infamy) shows Canadian police and prosecutors at their best: efficiently and effectively identifying the guy who done it, obtaining a full and legal confession, bringing him to court for a brisk guilty plea and then whisking him away to the penitentiary, there to stay for a very, very long time.
In the Cormier case, we will have to wait for the evidence and the judgement to see if that's how it will end.