Matthew Martins was just 16 years old when he was kicked, stomped on the head, and had his throat cut with a beer bottle at a Surrey SkyTrain station.
A couple in their 20s was eventually convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
But before the pair was tried, one of the accused was released on $5,000 bail -- an outrage, said Matthew's mother, Sandra Martins-Toner.
"That was it for me," Martins told CTV News on Sunday. "I realized the criminal justice system is just that, for the criminals, not for those who are left behind."
That's when Martins-Toner decided to help other families that have lost loved ones to violent crime. She helped form a group called Families Against Crime and Trauma.
On Sunday, they lit candles to remember their lost ones and call for change.
"Most of the families suffer not only emotionally but financially, and lose almost everything," said Martins-Toner. "So we want to see more financial help from the government for the families of victims of crime."
Nina Rivet's sister Irene Thorpe was killed in a street race eight years ago. The two men found guilty of her death never spent a day in prison.
One has been deported back to India. The other is fighting his removal from Canada.
Rivet said the Canadian government needs to act by holding criminals accountable.
"[Give] jail terms where it's warranted, instead of conditional sentences," she said. "I've made it my life's work not to have a family go through what we did."
