By Adam Berls

bill c-342

Local MP in favour of bill that would keep maximum security inmates in max security prisons

Aug 30, 2023 | 12:21 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A local MP is speaking in favour of a Private Member’s Bill that would require inmates who have been found to be dangerous offenders or convicted of more than one first degree murder be assigned a security classification of maximum and confined in a maximum security penitentiary or area in a penitentiary.

The bill, C-342, was put forward by Conservative MP for Niagara Falls, Tony Baldinelli, in the wake of the decision regarding serial killer Paul Bernardo’s transfer from a maximum security penitentiary to a medium security penitentiary. A decision that was so controversial, the minister in charge at the time of the transfer, was moved out of the Ministry of Public Safety in the recent cabinet shuffle.

Bernardo was not the only infamous name to have been transferred from maximum to medium security. Cody Legebokoff was convicted by the BC Supreme Court on four counts of first-degree murder back in 2014, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

Legebokoff was originally imprisoned at the maximum security Kent Insititution in Agassiz, British Columbia, and in March of 2019 was transferred to the medium-security Warkworth Institution in Trent Hills, Ontario. Ralph Goodale who was the minister of public safety back in 2019, defended the transfer, with Doherty calling for the decision to be reversed. 4 years later, Doherty says that elected officials need to stand up for the rights of victims.

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“That’s our job as as members of parliament or elected officials to make sure that we never forget … If they’re found guilty and and they’re sentenced to maximum security, well, then they should serve their time in maximum security.” – Todd Doherty, MP for Cariboo-Prince George (Conservative)

Bill C-342 is set to move into a second reading once Parliament reconvenes in the fall.

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Twitter: @AdamBerls

Email: Adam.Berls@pattisonmedia.com