On Monday, MPs agreed to launch a new limited parliamentary review of Canada’s prison transfer policies, in light of new attention surrounding the 2022 decision to move notorious Canadian murderer Luka Magnotta from a maximum prison to medium security.
MPs on the House of Commons Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee will call on Canada’s Correctional Services Commissioner, Anne Kelly, as well as the director of La Macaza Institution to discuss the decision to transfer Magnotta and the process involved. surrounds the transfer.
The decision to hold a special hearing on the issue was a departure from the initial plan proposed by the Conservatives (and initially supported by the Liberals) to embark on a broader study that would have included testimony from more than a dozen officials and interest groups. . .
The debate over how to proceed unfolded during an emergency committee meeting during a House recess week. After two hours of deliberation on a series of amendments, a double motion was finally narrowly passed, with no support from the Conservatives or the NDP.
Magnotta’s imprisonment returned to political discourse last week when Conservative MP Frank Caputo posted a video on profile Paul Bernardo.
While touring the institution, Caputo said, “one of the guards commented that Luka Magnotta walked past (him).”
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) later confirmed to media that Magnotta had been moved from the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution to a medium-security facility in 2022, without confirming which prison.
Magnotta, 41, is serving a life sentence for the gruesome murder of Chinese international student Jun Lin in Montreal in 2012.
“This offender has been behind bars for nearly a decade,” CSC spokesman Kevin Antonucci said in a statement. “They remain in a secure institution, serving an indeterminate sentence.”
Bernardo’s transfer from Ontario’s maximum-security Millhaven Institution sparked a fury of political controversy last summer after the transfer was largely kept secret within the government until it occurred.
The 59-year-old is serving an indeterminate life sentence after being convicted in 1995 of the kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of two teenagers – Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy – in the early 1990s near St. Catharines. , Ont. He was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka.
Amid moments of partisan sniping during Monday’s emergency meeting, Conservative MPs took issue with what they have characterized as the pair of “sadistic” killers who are granted access to certain activities and facilities, while Liberals They expressed hope that the study would remain substance-focused. of the topic rather than the sensational.
“I think most Canadians were surprised by the transfer of Paul Bernardo, and I think Canadians were similarly surprised to discover that Luka Magnotta and others are not only in medium security, but also in the same penitentiary,” Caputo said.
The Conservatives, suggesting the committee needs to “get to the bottom” of the impact of various Liberal justice policies, also wanted to examine ministerial responsibility and had proposed calling current and former public safety ministers as well as the chief of staff when Magnotta the transfer occurred.
Last week, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc’s office said decisions on the level of security for inmates rest with the CSC, independently, with the safety of the public being a “primary consideration.”
Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell initially told the committee that while she had no problem investigating prison transfer protocols and classifications further (proposing to add a number of additional witnesses, including the John Howard and Elizabeth Fry societies) , wanted it to be noted that “some of the highest years of changes in prisoner classification from maximum to medium were under the Harper Conservative government.”
She and other Liberal MPs then opted to vote in favor of a more limited version of a study proposed by bloc MP Kristina Michaud, which delves into the Magnotta affair with added emphasis on medical and psychiatric evaluations.
While conservatives expressed outrage at what they saw as the destruction of their initial proposal, Michaud credited Caputo for his work on the issue, noting that if he had not gone to visit La Macaza, “we wouldn’t be here today.”
With files from Spencer Van Dyk of CTV News