Niagara MP’s bill opposing Bernardo-like transfers likely to be revisited in fall

The fate of a private member’s bill put forward by a Niagara Falls MP requiring mass murderers like Paul Bernardo, to be permanently assigned to maximum-security facilities is likely to be revisited in the fall.

Tony Baldinelli, who brought the proposal to the House Of Commons this week, saw his attempt to fast-track it to the Senate using unanimous consent denied on Thursday.

“So unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until the fall at the earliest to have an opportunity to debate this bill at second reading and then go forward … at that time,” Baldinelli told Global News.

The move comes after notorious rapist and serial killer Paul Bernardo was moved from maximum security to a medium-security facility in May.

Earlier in the week, Conservative politicians called for the Public Safety Minister’s resignation after hearing of Bernardo’s transfer.

The minister, Marco Mendicino, characterized the change as “unacceptable” insisting he was kept in the dark about the transfer.

Mendicino has since issued a directive to make sure he is personally informed when a high-profile inmate is to be transferred.

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“The current lay of the land is that there are protocols in place that do allow the Correctional Service of Canada to navigate around what are legitimate security concerns, what are legitimate privacy concerns where inmates are transferred to minimum security institutions, but not medium security institutions,” he said.

Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum-security prison in Ontario to a medium-security facility in Quebec is now under review by the corrections service.

Conservatives made it known in a release they would seek to repeal the ‘least restrictive environment’ standard for inmates and restore ‘necessary restrictions.’

Baldinelli’s motion did receive support via an appeal from friends of Kristen French – the St. Catharines teen abducted and murdered by Bernardo in the early 1990s.

Tim Dansen, who represented the families of victims French and Leslie Mahaffy, says he was “quite shocked” hearing about the transfer believing he would have been given a “heads-up” prior to any such action.

“They were telling me that the transfer had already taken place and to learn that he was transferred from maximum security to medium security without any discussion at all with us … was quite a surprise and quite a disappointment,” Danson told Global News.

Danson went on to say his queries generally went unanswered as correction authorities said revealing details would violate Bernardo’s privacy rights.

Canadian Prison Consulting’s Lee Chapelle says the majority of those serving life sentences in Canada do land in medium-security prisons at some point and generally face the same degree of security, including perimeter fences and gun towers.

“The big difference comes down to the internal stuff,” Chapelle told Global News. “It’s more about movement in medium and an inmate would have a little more movement throughout the course of a day … and more availability for programming.”

Canada’s Correctional Service operates with an institutional adjustment ratings system that considers escape and public safety risks when reassessing security levels for inmates.

Chapelle says the system also has an “institutional adjustment” score that drops through the years as inmates remain “charge free” and compliant with a correctional plan.

But the expert doesn’t believe Bernardo should be moved due to the magnitude of his crimes and says Corrections Canada does have the tools to override any score.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s playing out the way it is … I think about the victims and empathize with them having to relive this through our Parliament,” said Chapelle.

– with files from Global News’ Aaron D’Andrea

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