These are the new freedoms Paul Bernardo could get in a medium-security prison
Paul Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security facility has led to questions surrounding whether the move will mean new freedoms for the serial killer.
Bernardo was moved from a maximum-security prison at Millhaven Institution near Kingston to La Macaza Institution in Quebec last week.
His life sentence and designation as a dangerous offender are tied to the kidnap, rape, torture and murders of 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy and 15-year-old Kristen French in the early 1990s near St. Catharines.
Shane Martinez, an adjunct professor of prison law at Osgoode Hall Law School, told CTV News Toronto that in medium-security prisons, people have more “mobility and opportunity.”
He said at a medium-security facility, prisoners can roam around, spend less time locked-up, and have more programming and employment options at the institution.
This is compared to a maximum-security facility, where Bernardo previously spent 23 hours per day in a cell, according to CTV News public safety analyst Chris Lewis.
“That'll all change in the medium (security prison),” he said.
“It’s just more relaxed. We’re not talking Club Med here by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a more relaxed environment,” Lewis said.
However, Martinez still called the security at a medium-security facility “significant,” even though it might be less so than at a maximum-security prison.
La Mascaza, which is located right beside Mont Tremblant International Airport, is a stand-alone facility built on an open campus model with a capacity of 240 inmates, according to Correctional Service of Canada. The federal organization called it a “secure and controlled institution – with every precaution in place to maintain public safety.”
“It is important to know that medium security facilities have the same perimeter controls as maximum security institutions (high fences, armed controls, armed correctional officers equipped with proper security equipment etc.) These facilities are strictly guarded 24/7, inmate movement is controlled, and we have rigorous security protocols.”
Martinez said the environments of medium and maximum-security facilities are definitely different. “But for him, I have a hard time seeing the experience being marked as different given how he is going to be isolated,” he said.
From his perspective, Martinez said it’s “relatively safe to presume” Bernardo will be kept in isolation.
The Correctional Service of Canada said it is “restricted by law” when it comes to what they can release about why Bernardo was transferred, citing his privacy rights when asked.
“Security classifications and transfers are based on: risk to public safety, escape risk, an offender’s institutional adjustment, and other case-specified information, such as psychological risk assessments,” the federal organization said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
Timothy Danson, a Toronto lawyer who represented the families of French and Mahaffy, said he informed them of the transfer last week and he said he could, “feel and sense their anguish and their despair and their sadness and their disbelief at the fact that there's a complete absence of transparency with respect to this decision,” Danson said on Monday.
"It's pretty disturbing,” he said.
“We asked why? What was the basis for it? What was the process? And they refused to answer our questions,” Danson said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
What a U.S. farmworker’s case of bird flu tells us about tracking the infection
A U.S. farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.