Decision to transfer Paul Bernardo 'sound' and followed protocol ...

OTTAWA -

The highly contentious decision by the Correctional Service of Canada to transfer notorious serial rapist and convicted killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison was "sound" and followed all applicable laws and policies, a review has found.

According to a report released Thursday by Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) Commissioner Anne Kelly, the decision to relocate Bernardo from the maximum-security Millhaven Institution in Ontario to the medium-security La Macaza Institution in Quebec in late May, will stand. 

The move was based in part on what CSC says was an effective offender integration plan and Bernardo's "generally conformist" behaviour.

"The offender’s Case Management Team (CMT) has worked for many years to facilitate the offender’s integration within the inmate population," reads the 85-page review. 

The release of this specific personal information about an offender is rare, the review notes, but has been shared in this case because of "the public’s interest and desire to understand why Paul Bernardo was reclassified."

The review also found that while CSC "went above policy in this case to notify victims," additional steps should have been taken to provide more information.

This finding has prompted the panel to recommend CSC share the review and recommendations with the registered victims prior to being released publicly, which has happened.

The panel also recommended the strengthening of victim notifications and engagement by striking a committee dedicated to this work, which, CSC said Thursday, will be done.

"I recognize that some may not support this outcome. While this case has opened up a larger and important debate about the role of corrections in our society, it is important for us to look at the larger context. I have been with CSC for close to 40 years, and I know that, our feelings towards an offender must not guide our decisions," the commissioner said in a statement accompanying the report.

Kelly and officials are holding a press conference in Ottawa to speak to their findings regarding the much-maligned transfer.

Bernardo's transfer was largely kept under wraps within the government until it occurred, sparking a fury of political controversy centred around Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.

In June, CSC confirmed a three-person committee was tasked with investigating the "appropriateness" of Bernardo's security classification and subsequent transfer.

Further, the CSC said it would review victim considerations and notifications, as well as determine whether the legislative policy framework was followed before the transfer was made. The agency had promised to release its findings within a few weeks.

This came after the minister spoke with Kelly to express "in very clear terms" the concerns of the families of Bernardo's victims and all Canadians of the "incomprehensible" transfer.

After it was revealed that the minister's office and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office knew about plans to transfer Bernardo months before it happened, Mendicino "dealt with" the "breakdown in information flow" within his office and said he would issue a "ministerial directive" requiring Canada's corrections agency to reform how it handles high-profile prison transfers.

Thursday's release indicates that ministerial directive has now been drafted and will be implemented. 

Bernado, 58, is serving an indeterminate life sentence and has been designated as a dangerous offender. He was convicted in 1995 for the kidnap, rape, torture and murder of two teenagers – 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy – in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont. He was also convicted of manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka.

Throughout the uproar over his transfer, the federal government has not said if there are any plans to reverse Bernardo's relocation, and Mendicino has said that he was awaiting the outcomes of this review before considering next steps.

"I want to be clear that, at any point, an inmate can be returned to a higher security level, if deemed necessary, to ensure the safety of the public or our institutions," Kelly said Thursday. 

This is a breaking news story. More coming…