Conservatives Re-Introduce Bill to Ensure Paul Bernardo Stays in Maximum Security Prison
Ottawa, ON — Today, Tony Baldinelli, Conservative Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, introduced a Private Member’s Bill, which seeks to keep dangerous offenders and mass murderers like Paul Bernardo in maximum security prison.
In a May 2023 decision which shocked the community – and Canadians across the country – Correctional Service Canada transferred infamous serial killer Paul Bernardo from a maximum security prison at Millhaven Institute near Kingston, Ontario, to a medium security prison at La Macaza in Quebec.
“A decade of Liberal soft-on-crime policies has put the rights of criminals ahead of the rights of victims and the law-abiding public. Paul Bernardo should never have been transferred to a medium security prison. This terrible decision not only shocked the country, but it revictimized the families and should never have been allowed to happen,” said Baldinelli. “My Private Member’s Bill will make sure it never happens again.”
Baldinelli’s Bill C-232 will amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to require that all court-ordered dangerous offenders and mass murderers be permanently assigned a maximum security classification. It will also repeal the Liberals’ “least restrictive environment” standard for assigning inmates to prisons and restore the language of “necessary restrictions” that the previous Conservative government put in place.
The Bill complements a larger Conservative effort to combat the out-of-control crime wave Canadians are facing after a decade of Liberal government.
These other measures include:
- A three-strikes law for repeat violent offenders so that serious crimes come with serious consequences.
- Restoring safe streets with a Jail Not Bail Act to improve public safety and tip the scales of justice back in favour of innocent Canadians.
- Strengthening the legal response to intimate partner violence through Bill C-225.
- Ensuring that victims of crimes are provided timely explanations of decisions determining the movement and status of criminals that victimized them through Bill C-221.
“Enough is enough. Conservatives will put victims’ rights before criminals’, restore law, order and safety in our communities, and ensure monsters like Paul Bernardo and other dangerous mass murderers and violent criminals stay where they belong: in maximum security prison,” said Baldinelli.