The prison transfer of rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo is causing discontent in Ottawa, where Justin Trudeau says his government was trying to better understand Correctional Service Canada (CSC), which will do a “review” of the controversial decision.
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“I fully understand the shock and dismay of so many Canadians at the announcement of this news,” he said at a press conference on Monday.
Mr. Bernardo was transferred without explanation from a maximum-security prison near Kingston, Ontario, to the medium-security La Macaza Institution in the Laurentians.
The criminal had raped, tortured and murdered three teenage girls in the early 1990s with his partner Karla Homolka in St. Catharines, Ontario.
In a statement released Monday, CSC said its Commissioner Anne Kelly has ordered “a new review of this offender’s case.”
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“The purpose of the review is to ensure that it has been placed at the correct level of security based on the available evidence, and most importantly, that the concerns of victims have been adequately addressed.”
“These are horrific crimes, and we deplore the pain and concern that the situation may have caused,” adds the CSC, which says it is “aware” of the repercussions of its decisions on the victims.
Mr. Trudeau assured that his Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, “was going to find clear answers and explain to Canadians what happened and what we are going to do about it”.
Minister Mendicino called the decision “shocking and incomprehensible” last Friday.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre also protested against the decision taken without the knowledge of everyone, including the families of the victims, and called on the federal government to do everything in its power to “overturn this ridiculous and appalling decision”.
“Mr. Bernardo is a monster and he should stay in maximum prison,” Mr. Poilievre said on Monday.
In a similar vein, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Monday that Paul Bernardo deserved to “rot in jail for the rest of his miserable life.”
La Macaza Institution reportedly houses several sex offenders and criminals at risk of being harmed by other inmates.
However, CSC was keen to point out that medium security institutions “have the same perimeter controls as maximum security institutions”, which includes “high fences, armed checkpoints, armed correctional officers equipped with adequate security equipment” .
The case of each prisoner in these institutions is reassessed every two years, it is said.