A review is underway into how the Correctional Service of Canada can better its victim services in the wake of a national outcry over Paul Bernardo’s prison transfer.
Anne Kelly, commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, told MPs sitting on the House of Commons public safety and national security committee that an 11-member panel has been struck to examine how officials can do better.
“This offender committed horrific crimes, and hearing about this case has brought up strong emotions and rightly so. I regret any pain and concern this has caused,” she said.
“Over the next months, it (the panel) will explore how we provide services to victims of crime and examine additional areas that could be further strengthened. We have also recently undertaken a review of our policies to see how we can better serve victims and provide them with more timely information about the offender who harmed them.”
One of the country’s most notorious killers, Bernardo, 58, was transferred to a medium-security prison in Quebec earlier this year, a move that set off a firestorm across the country, and engulfed the Liberal government in controversy.
Bernardo has been serving a life sentence for the kidnappings, tortures and murders of teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s. He and his then-wife Karla Homolka also killed her younger sister, Tammy Homolka.
Bernardo had been living out his sentence in maximum-security prisons until that point.
Part of the controversy surrounded the notification of the victims’ families; Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the families of French and Mahaffy, previously told Global News he only learned about this transfer after it happened.
Correctional Service of Canada launched a review of the decision in June amid public outcry. It concluded its decision was “sound” as it followed protocol, but found it must strengthen how it communicates with victims’ families when moving high-profile criminals.
The panel started its work on Nov. 17, Kelly said.
It wasn’t immediately if it would produce any reports, and if so, by when and if they would be made public.
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