Correctional Service of Canada informed the office of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino in early March of the possible transfer of notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security federal penitentiary in the Laurentians, Quebec.
And the minister’s office was informed again at the end of May, after a date was set for the move, according to what revealed exchanges of emails communicated to The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
The Public Safety Minister and his staff have come under intense scrutiny over the past month as further details have emerged on the timing of the killer’s penitentiary transfer. Questions were also raised about who knew what and when.
The opposition Conservative Party (CCP) demands the resignation of Mr. Mendicino.
Paul Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ontario. He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka, the younger sister of his then-wife, Karla Homolka.
Paul Bernardo also admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women.
Karla Homolka pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released in 2005 after serving a 12-year sentence for her role in the crimes against the two teenage girls.
On June 2, reports surfaced that Paul Bernardo had been quietly transferred three days earlier to the medium-security La Macaza facility. He was first held at Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario, then spent about a decade at Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security prison just outside Kingston.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was told of the transfer on May 29, the day it took place, while Minister Mendicino said he found out the next day.
Confirmation
The Minister then posted a statement on Twitter describing the Corrections Service’s “independent decision” as “shocking and incomprehensible”. He also said he planned to bring up “the transfer decision process” and expected the Correctional Service to “take a victim-centered and trauma-informed approach” in such cases.
Anne Kelly, the commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, had contacted Mr Mendicino directly to let him know that she had seen his post on Twitter in which he expressed his concern over the move and offered to arrange a meeting.
One of the emails sent to The Canadian Press shows that Mme Kelly herself contacted Shawn Tupper and Tricia Geddes, Deputy Minister and Assistant Deputy Minister of Public Safety, respectively, three days before the scheduled transfer date.
“I said I would confirm the transfer with you. This will take place next week, ”wrote Mme Kelly on May 26 in an email titled “Notorious Delinquent.”
She told them that the federal Department of Public Safety, Mr. Mendicino’s office, the Privy Council Office and the Prime Minister’s Office “have been briefed” and that “we have media lines ready.”
Mr. Tupper replied a few minutes later to Mr.me Kelly to thank her for the confirmation.
Meeting requested
A spokeswoman for Mr. Mendicino’s office confirmed that she was first asked about Mr. Bernardo’s possible transfer by a staff member in Mr. Trudeau’s office, who learned about the matter from the Privy Council Office.
The documents show that M.me Kelly wrote directly to Mr. Mendicino on the afternoon of Sunday June 4, two days after the minister’s first public statement on the matter.
“Hello Mr. Minister, I saw your tweet, wrote Mme Kelly. I remain available to meet you. »
Mr. Mendicino replied within 10 minutes: “Yes, we will coordinate a call. »
The following day, Mr Mendicino told reporters that he had spoken with Mrme Kelly and told him he was “deeply concerned and… shocked by this decision”. The Correctional Service then said the decision to reclassify and transfer Paul Bernardo, which was made according to a set of criteria provided by law, was under review.
The newly released documents then show that Ms Kelly responded to Mr Tupper and Ms Geddes on June 6 to check whether Mr Mendicino’s office had been informed of Mr Bernardo’s transfer, as the Clerk of the Privy Council had asked her the question. same question.
“I understand from my staff that someone at the (public safety department) said that (the minister) was not informed,” she wrote in an email.
Mr Mendicino admitted that his staff made a mistake in not informing him, but denied that it was done to intentionally keep him in the dark.
The Minister did not reveal how he was not informed, but announced his intention to issue a directive stating that he should be informed directly of these transfers.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Marco Mendicino should issue a similar directive to ensure those convicted of multiple murders, like Paul Bernardo, must serve their full sentence in a maximum-security prison.
The Liberal government says it must be careful not to interfere with the independence of corrections, a position shared by criminal justice experts and lawyers.
The Correctional Service of Canada has yet to provide an update on its review of Paul Bernardo’s transfer.
Tim Danson, a lawyer representing the French and Mahaffy families, said he wants the decision on the transfer overturned, adding that it came around the anniversary of Leslie Mahaffy’s kidnapping and death.
The Canadian Press contacted Corrections, the Privy Council Office and Mr. Mendicino’s office for comment on the recently released documents, but has not yet received a response.