A year before the transfer of serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison in Quebec ignited a political firestorm, then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino’s office had been informed about plans for a similar move of another high-profile killer — Luka Magnotta — to the same institution.
“Advanced notification was provided to the Minister of Public Safety’s office once the offender had been approved for the transfer and again when the transfer date had been determined,” Correctional Service Canada (CSC) spokesperson Esther Mailhot said in a statement to Global News Tuesday when asked about Magnotta.
The CSC says the previous public safety minister’s office was informed Magnotta would be moving to a medium-security prison in May 2022 with a transfer date of August of that year.
But the transfer only became public in recent days, after the Toronto Sun reported on his move from the maximum-security prison Port-Cartier in eastern Quebec to the medium-security facility La Macaza, northwest of Montreal.
Bernardo was also moved to La Macaza nine months later.
The correctional service revealed it had first told Mendicino’s office about the possibility of a transfer in early March and then again in late May after a date for the move had been set. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was briefed on May 29, the day the transfer took place, while Mendicino has said he found out the next day.
It’s not clear at this time when or if Mendicino was notified about Magnotta’s transfer to La Macaza.
Magnotta – whose birth name is Eric Newman – is serving an indeterminate life sentence after he was found guilty in 2014 of murdering international student Jun Lin.
Magnotta admitted to killing Lin, dismembering him and mailing his body parts to political parties and schools.
Opposition parties are questioning the CSC’s decision to move another reviled killer and are urging the government to take a closer look at the transfer process.
“Victims continue to come second,” Conservative justice critic Frank Caputo said in a statement Tuesday. He slammed the transfer as the “intent and result of Trudeau’s C-83 law.”
Under C-83, inmates must be held in the “least restrictive measures consistent with the protection of society.” But the Conservatives say the law has facilitated the transfers of the “worst of the worst,” like Magnotta and Bernardo.
The New Democrats call the news “deeply concerning.”
“We’re urging the government to look into this transfer, especially to consult with the victim’s loved ones and correctional officers who are familiar with the case,” NDP public safety critic Peter Julian said in a statement.
When asked by Global News if the Li family was informed of Magnotta’s transfer, Corrections Canada said victims “receive timely notification on matters such as transfers.”
The CSC adds that decisions related to reclassifications are “very thorough” and are only made when an offender “can be safely managed in a medium-security facility.”
The facility where Magnotta is now serving time has a “well-defined perimeter with high fences, is strictly guarded 24/7 and is patrolled by armed officers,” Corrections Canada said.
Shane Martinez, a criminal lawyer and adjunct professor of prison law at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, says the CSC makes its decisions “carefully” and considers factors such as “escape risk” and danger to public safety.
“Some people might look at this move to medium security and say … ‘The next step is that (Magnotta is) going to be released on parole. He’s going to be back in the community.’ Well, that’s simply not going to happen,” Martinez said.
He added that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to everyone, even the “worst of the worst,” like Magnotta.
“He’s an appropriate recipient of public anger and that’s understandably justified. But what’s difficult here is when politicians seize on this political opportunity to not explain how the system works,” Martinez said.