legrandangle-lgm

Families of victims murdered by infamous serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo He will not be allowed to attend his upcoming parole hearing in person, according to the families’ attorney.

Bernardo, who is serving a life sentence and was transferred from maximum-security to medium-security prison last year, will appear for a parole hearing next week at La Macaza prison in Quebec.

Tim Danson, the attorney representing the families of Kristen French And Leslie Mahaffywho were killed by Bernardo as a teenager, argued in a letter to officials Tuesday that his clients have the legal right to attend the hearing and read their statements in person.

The letter, shared with Global News, was addressed to Parole Board of Canada chairwoman Joanne Blanchard, Corrections Service of Canada Commissioner Anne Kelly and Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

2:24
Why Paul Bernardo will stay in a medium security prison

“We have just learned that the legal right of the families to be physically present at Mr. Bernardo’s hearing on November 26, 2024 and to read their victim impact statements in person, in the physical presence of Mr. Bernardo and the panel of the Parole Board, has been denied,” Danson wrote in the letter.

“Other than a bald reference to the fact that the PBC is ‘unable to ensure the safety and security of all hearing participants’, we have received no further details.”

Receive the latest national news

For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts sent directly to you as they happen.

Danson argued that this does not meet the criteria of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

By lawthe parole board may deny a person from attending a review hearing if “the security and good order of the institution where the hearing is to take place is likely to be adversely affected by the person’s presence.”

3:14
Emails show that staff expected the consequences of Bernardo’s prison transfer

Danson said this denial was “unacceptable” and “remarkably insensitive” to the Mahaffy and French families.

“It was nothing short of heartbreaking to experience the painful and heartbreaking reaction of Debbie Mahaffy and Donna French when they learned that the PBC banned them from representing their daughters (and themselves) and denied them the right to confront Paul Bernardo. personally, by reading their Victim Impact Statements,” the letter said.

“This was really a shock to their system. It was chilling – an insult so deep and hurtful that it took victims’ rights back (figuratively speaking) to the Stone Age.”

“It’s unbelievable how the ‘system’ is there to help and benefit Canada’s most notorious sadist, sexual psychopath and murderer, but not his victims, who suffer every day.”

Danson urged that Bernardo’s parole hearing be postponed until December or a later date to accommodate the families and lawyers so they can travel to La Macaza.

In an emailed statement to Global News Wednesday, Gabriel Brunet, a spokesperson for LeBlanc, said the parole board is a quasi-judicial body and “decisions are made independently.”

“Our thoughts go out to the families of the victims, who continue to live with the trauma caused by this individual’s horrific crimes,” Brunet said.

During question period Wednesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the Liberal government of “blocking” the French and Mahaffy families from the hearing and asked why LeBlanc did not intervene in the parole board’s decision.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded by saying Poilievre was using the issue for political purposes.

“The Leader of the Opposition knows full well that these are decisions made by the parole board, and the minister is involved in this issue,” Trudeau said. “But it will not stop him from instrumentalizing the grief and fear of crime victim families for his own limited personal gain.”

0:49
Paul Bernardo transfer: CSC can return killer to higher security setting if ‘deemed necessary’

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the kidnappings, torture and murders of French and Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont. He and his then-wife Karla Homolka also murdered her younger sister, Tammy Homolka.

Bernardo, 60, was transferred to a medium-security prison in Quebec in June last yeara move that set off a firestorm across the country and engulfed the Liberal government in controversy.

Bernardo had previously served his sentence in high-security prisons.

An investigation into his controversial transfer was completed that the decision to move Bernardo was ‘right’.

Danson said at the time that his clients were not given advance notice of the move. The incident eventually has led to an assessment incorporated into the Canadian Victim Services Correctional Service, including reporting protocols.

—With files from Global’s Sean Boynton

&copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.