The chief of staff to then-Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino had been briefed about Paul Bernardo’s future prison transfer by the Commissioner of Correctional Service Canada (CSC) about two weeks earlier. He was not informed until he was transferred to prison. It has been moved, an internal government email said.
Privy Council Office (PCO) emails obtained by CBC News show that between February and May 2023, before Mendicino was briefed, Bernardo was transferred from maximum security to medium security seven times in Canada. It is also shown that the Department of Corrections was in contact with the Minister’s Office.
These contacts included the minister’s communications staff, who were informed three months before the incident of possible changes to the security level of the notorious serial killer and rapist.
Tim Danson, a lawyer who represents the families of two of Bernardo’s victims, said it was “very disturbing” to learn that there had been so much communication about the transfer that the minister had not been able to reach.
“I just don’t understand it,” Danson said.
“The fact that there was so much back and forth tells us that everyone knew very well that this was completely unacceptable to Canadians, so they tried to make the transfer a fait accompli. It was proceeded in such a way.”
Bernardo was convicted of first-degree murder in 1995 for killing teens Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffey. He was also found guilty of manslaughter for his role in the death of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years and is designated as a dangerous offender.
The victims’ families are furious that they were only informed that Bernardo would be transferred from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security prison until May 29, 2023, the day the incident occurred.
CBC News exclusively reported in June Staff in Mr. Mendicino’s office knew for more than three months that Mr. Bernardo might be transferred, but they said they did not inform the minister until the day after the move. The story sparked a political firestorm, with calls for Mendicino to resign.
Mr Mendicino claimed he was not informed of Mr Bernardo’s transfer to prison before he was expelled from the cabinet and said he should have been “briefed immediately”.
Mr. Mendicino also ordered that the Minister be personally notified of any such transfers in the future and that victims be informed at the earliest. He never said who had failed to explain it to him.
CBC News obtained hundreds of pages of internal emails about Bernardo’s transfer through a Freedom of Information request from the Privy Council Office (PCO). The emails include a detailed “sequence of events” written by Corrections Canada and his PCO.
Coach Mendicino said on June 5 that the decision to transfer Bernardo was “shocking.” The next day, then-Secretary of the Privy Council, Janice Charette, asked staff to investigate why Mendicino was not informed of his transfer sooner and whether the Correctional Service of Canada knew about it.
“Hi, this morning from a clerk regarding CSC Bernardo — could you please follow up with your department?” An internal email exchanged between two Privy Council Secretariat employees on June 6th read, “What is the process for approving this? What’s going on? Why didn’t the minister know? Did the chief know?”
A week later, federal officials tasked with seeking information from the Clerk of the Privy Council wrote to Correctional Service Canada asking for a chronology of events “as soon as possible.”
“We urgently require a detailed chronology of events, including timing of decision points and notification of various parties (victims, victims, victims, etc.). [minister’s office]PCO Communications, etc.),” Julie Davis of the Privy Council Office wrote to Correctional Service Canada officials on June 14.
A condensed timeline and a more detailed document called the “sequence of events” (listing everything disclosed by the PCO’s communications team and Correctional Service Canada) was then shared with Davis. The email stated that CSC had confirmed the date with the Correctional Commissioner of Canada.
The minister’s office was first alerted to Bernardo’s possible transfer during a meeting on February 27, according to the sequence of events document.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said his ministry is in contact with Correctional Service Canada regarding the transfer of prisoners. He said he “personally learned of Paul Bernardo’s transfer the week the decision was made.”
”[communications] Officials in the minister’s office were notified of the “name, date, and transfer” on March 2. [and] “Change in security level,” the sequence of events document states.
Anne Kelly, head of the Correctional Service of Canada, briefed Mendicino’s chief of staff on May 16 at a meeting regarding the transfer. The former chief of staff did not respond to CBC News’ request for comment.
On May 25, the deputy director of victim services at the Correctional Service of Canada notified the minister’s office of Bernardo’s transfer date, according to a series of documents.
According to a series of background documents, the Correctional Service of Canada’s Deputy Director-General for Communications and Engagement sent a Media Line to Mr. Mendicino’s office on May 25, informing him that the transfer would take place on May 29.
According to a series of documents, on the day of Bernardo’s transfer, the minister’s office called Canada Corrections to explain the reasons for the decision. According to the document, the minister’s office was also notified on May 29 that the transfer had been completed.
Documents of the sequence of events say Mendicino was not notified by staff until May 30, the day after Bernardo was transferred from the Millhaven Institute in Ontario to the La Macaza Institute in Quebec.
Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino dodged a reporter’s question about why he was not informed about the transfer of serial killer Paul Bernardo to prison and whether anyone would be held responsible. He also rejected continued demands from opposition members for him to resign.
Several of the staff members who worked on the file in Mr. Mendicino’s office during the controversy have moved to other ministers’ offices or left the government. The current Public Safety Minister’s Office said last week that the issue was not something it could comment on.
A spokesperson for Mr Mendicino said last year that the reason his staff did not inform the minister in advance about Mr Bernardo’s future transfer was because they had “considered options that could change the decision in the subsequent period; “I was told that there were no other options,” he said.
A June 13 email from a spokesperson for Mr. Mendicino’s office to CBC News said that when staff were briefed by the minister on May 30, the minister was told that the transfer would have “no impact.” He was also told that he did not have the authority to do so.
Corrections Canada told CBC News it followed notification procedures and has since “strengthened its information-sharing procedures with ministers’ offices.”
The Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security will meet Monday to discuss a request to begin a study on federal criminal reclassification.
