Ottawa, ON — The Hon. Pierre Poilievre, Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the Official Opposition, released the following statement announcing Conservative plans to keep Paul Bernardo in maximum-security prison:  

“Conservatives, like all Canadians, were shocked to learn that the vile serial killer and rapist, Paul Bernardo, one of the most evil monsters in Canadian history, had been moved from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility. This is outrageous. He should rot in a maximum-security prison for the rest of his life. 

“As usual, Justin Trudeau and his useless Public Safety Minister refused to take any responsibility.  They claimed that the decision was out of their hands and that there is nothing they could do about it. This is a lie. More dangerous, violent criminals are getting out of maximum security because of Trudeau’s Bill C-83, which requires prisons to be chosen for inmates to give them the ‘least restrictive environment’ possible. Trudeau and his minister could have reversed the decision on Bernardo by issuing a directive or order in council to the Correctional Services Commissioner requiring that all court-ordered dangerous offenders and multiple first-degree murderers be kept in maximum security for their entire sentences. 

“If Liberals won’t take action, Conservatives will. This week, our common-sense Conservative Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls, Tony Baldinelli, will be putting forward legislation to require that all court-ordered dangerous offenders and mass murderers be permanently assigned a maximum-security classification. It will also repeal the Liberal ‘least restrictive environment’ standard for assigning inmates to prisons and restore the language of ‘necessary restrictions’ that the previous Conservative government had put in place. 

“Paul Bernardo is a vile monster. Common sense Conservatives will put him, and criminals like him, back where they belong. We will bring home a justice system where victims, not criminals, come first.”