Without knowing the details of the situation, this
it would be a mistake to assume that any unlicensed pilot necessarily = bad pilot
Is very true. Of course it is simply wrong to take anything without permission, however, that aside, the fact that a person is not licensed is not uncommon. I bought my 150 29 years ago from a man who had never had a license - he could not read and write. Excellent "pilot". I'm sure that he had flown that 150 many hundreds of hours without any trouble nor log entries. He sold my now 150 to buy a 172, which he flew a lot. He is one of many people who just fly. I can't condone it, but it is low on the list things we need to be concerned about for aviation safety in Canada.