The head of the Parole Board of Canada is reconsidering her decision to prevent the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy — who were tortured and killed by Paul Bernardo — from addressing their daughters’ murderer in person next week, according to the federal Public Safety minister’s office.
In a statement sent to CBC News, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said he has “been assured by the chairperson of the Parole Board she is reconsidering and exploring all possible alternative options to ensure the victims have the ability to read statements in person.”
Tim Danson, longtime lawyer for the French and Mahaffy families, reported Tuesday that his clients are not being allowed to attend Bernardo’s next hearing in person. He said the reason the parole board gave was that it couldn’t ensure safety.
“They are in emotional turmoil. This brings back everything,” Danson told CBC Wednesday morning.
He noted the families were able to deliver their statements in person back in 2018, when Bernardo was being held at a maximum security facility.
Bernardo was moved last year to La Macaza Institute, a medium security facility in Quebec.
“It’s very, very disturbing,” said Danson.
The federal government has maintained that the parole board is independent. That didn’t stop MPs from speaking out.
Defence Minister Bill Blair, who was a Toronto police officer during Bernardo’s serial rapes and murders, said he disagrees with the board’s decision in this case.
“I think, like most Canadians … the French and Mahaffy families have every right to make the impact those terrible crimes have had on their families, they have a right to be heard,” he said.
“I would strongly support revisiting that particular decision.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre called on the federal government to intervene and accused it of not wanting the families to see Bernardo’s new living conditions.
The families of two teenage girls murdered by Paul Bernardo are being denied the opportunity to read their victim impact statements in person at the killer’s parole hearing. Metro Morning host David Common spoke with the lawyer for the families.
“The families of Paul Bernardo’s victims are being told they cannot attend his parole hearings in person, despite having done so in the past,” he posted to X.
“Is this because the government doesn’t want his victims’ families to see what this monster’s life is like after he was moved out of a maximum security facility?”
During an exchange in question period Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Poilievre of using the families’ grief for political gain.
Bernardo is ‘loving this,’ lawyer says
Bernardo is serving a life sentence for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering southern Ontario teenagers French, 15, and Mahaffy, 14 — crimes he committed with help from his then-wife Karla Homolka.
Designated a dangerous offender — a label reserved for Canada’s most brutal criminals — Bernardo is not likely to ever be released from prison.
Danson said the families have the right to confront their daughters’ killer in person.
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act says the board “shall make every effort to fully understand the need of the victim and of the members of his or her family to attend the hearing and witness its proceedings.”
The act does allow the parole board to restrict attendance if “the security and good order of the institution in which the hearing is to be held is likely to be adversely affected by the person’s presence.”
“[The families] don’t want this to be sanitized through a computer screen,” Danson said. “It’s important that they’re there.
“Paul Bernardo is loving this. This is all entertainment for him and he benefits by the families not being able to deliver their victim impact statements as effectively as they have a right to do.”
B.C. Conservative MP Frank Caputo says he wants answers on why the Parole Board of Canada barred victims’ families from attending an upcoming hearing for Paul Bernardo in person.
Liberal MP Chris Bittle represents St. Catharines, Ont., where French was killed. He called the decision “completely unacceptable” and said it “ignores the pain of victims and undermines public trust in the board.”
Conservative MP Frank Caputo called the parole board’s decision “absolutely and positively awful” and called for more information.
“It’s just so wrong on so many levels,” said the Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo MP Wednesday.
“This has to change.”
The matter was also raised in the Senate on Wednesday.
Conservative Sen. Don Plett questioned how this decision could be made and called the teens’ murders “one of the most horrific crimes that our country has ever known.”
Sen. Marc Gold, the government’s representative, pointed out that the parole board operates independently but said the government of Canada “disagrees with the decision.”
The Parole Board of Canada has not yet responded to CBC’s request for comment.