Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino should resign over his handling of convicted killer Paul Bernardo’s controversial prison transfer.
CBC News reported Tuesday that Mendicino’s office knew for months that one of Canada’s most high-profile murderers would be moved by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) to a medium-security institution.
But the minister’s political staff maintain they kept that information from Mendicino until the day after Bernardo was transferred.
The minister’s press secretary, Audrey Champoux, said Monday the office was examining “possible options for potentially changing the decision” before telling Mendicino what CSC had decided to do.
CSC said it first told Mendicino’s office in March that there was a transfer planned with an unspecified date.
Later, in May, the federal prison agency confirmed Bernardo would be moved on May 29. The killer was then transferred on that day as planned.
Staff in Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino’s office knew for three months that serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo would be transferred from a maximum-security facility to a medium-security prison — but didn’t inform the minister until after it had happened.
After media reports revealed Bernardo’s move to a Quebec institution, Mendicino told reporters he was “profoundly concerned” and “shocked” by CSC’s decision, suggesting he didn’t have an explanation for why the service went ahead with the transfer.
“Minister Mendicino said he was shocked — totally shocked. Now we know he was informed three months earlier and did absolutely nothing,” Poilievre told reporters on Parliament Hill on Wednesday.
“This is not the first time Mr. Mendicino has lied to Canadians. I have a list,” he went on, reading off a series of the minister’s perceived failings, including his handling of the 2022 trucker convoy and the so-called Chinese government police stations in Canada.
“He lies and lies and lies. He’s lied about his knowledge and role in moving Paul Bernardo from a maximum-security penitentiary to a medium-security penitentiary. These are too many lies. It’s one lie too many. It’s time to Marco Mendicino to resign.”
Fewer restrictions at medium-security facility
While the correctional service sent notice in advance, Mendicino’s office maintains the minister wasn’t aware of what CSC had planned.
Moving Bernardo from a maximum-security prison like Bath, Ont.’s Millhaven Institution to a medium-security institution means the prisoner will have fewer restrictions on his movement and he’ll be allowed to interact with other inmates.
In a 2020 briefing note on the issue of transfers, CSC said it moves inmates to lower-security-level facilities only if the prisoner has made “progress” on their correctional plan, which outlines what they must do to address the factors that led to their criminal behaviour.
The CSC said an inmate “must present a low probability of escape and a low risk to the safety of the public,” before a transfer occurs.
The inmate must also require “a low degree of supervision and control within the institution,” CSC has said.
Bernardo apparently met those conditions.
Bernardo was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 for the killings of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.
He was also convicted of manslaughter for his role in the death of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for the first 25 years.
Bernardo has been repeatedly denied parole.
The family of Bernardo’s victims have said they are outraged by CSC’s decision to move a killer of Bernardo’s calibre to an institution like La Macaza, Que.’s prison. They also maintain they didn’t receive adequate notice from CSC about the transfer.
