Correctional Services Canada (CSC) began planning its public response to Paul Bernardo’s transfer in January, nearly six months before the convicted killer was due to leave a maximum-security prison.
Documents obtained by CTV Neombs Toronto through a Freedom of Information request reveal that staff admitted that Bernardo’s transfer “will probably generate media attention” nearly half a year before it took place, and before the transfer was confirmed.
“Media and public interest remain high to this day,” an email sent on Jan. 9 from a senior CSC adviser on media relations it is said.
“Mr. Bernardo has had two parole hearings, in October 2018 and June 2021, which both generated significant attention from the media, victims and the public at large.”
The 62-year-old killer is serving an unspecified life sentence for the kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.
He was, and remains, designated as a dangerous offender.
For about a decade, Bernardo has been serving his sentence at the Millhaven Institution near Kingston–a maximum-security prison. On May 29, he was loaded into a vehicle and driven 4.5 hours non-stop to the La Macaza Institution in Quebec.
The medium-security prison had kept a bed for him since May 15, an April email shows.
Paul Bernardo appears in this courtroom sketch during Ontario court proceedings via video link in Napanee, Ont., on 5 October 2018. Canada’s Correctional Service is set to reveal the results of a review into the controversial transfer of notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison. The CANADIAN PRESS / Greg Banning
According to a February transfer assessment, also obtained by CTV Neombs Toronto, Millhaven Management, the Department of Security Intelligence and the case management team–a group that evaluates and supervises offenders during their sentencing–”believe that this proposed transfer may attract less negative attention if it is outside the region where the index violations occurred.”
They noted in the report that there are no viable alternatives in Ontario to Bernardo’s transfer.
PROJECT-TIMELINE OF MESSAGES
A February email sent to Kirstan Gagnon, Assistant Commissioner in CSC’s communications and engagement sector, suggests that the agency had prepared several lines for Bernardo’s transfer to a medium-security prison in August 2022 and that the same lines could be reused.
A series of revised” predictive media lines ” were offered in a February. 28 emails that would address questions about transfers and security classification assessments in general. At this point, no set date for the transfer was confirmed.
The messages contained technical details about the type of assessment the offender passed and when the offenders were transferred. No specific information about the case was included.
On March 2, someone within the Office of the minister of Public Security addressed the CSC saying they were hearing that Bernardo would be transferred soon. The name of the staff has been edited.
E-mails sent between Correctional Services Canada (CSC) and the Ministry of Public Security in early March. CSC staff emails have been blacked out by CTV Neambs Toronto.
The ministry’s office later asked for clarification on whether the transfers are publicly announced.
In response, a communications manager within CSC said that while transfers are not publicly announced, “there is always a chance that it is known, so we prepared messages.”The same February talking points were then sent to their office.
MONTH OF TRANSFER
Emails about possible media inquiries were received at the end of May a few days before Bernardo’s physical transfer.
On May 23, Gagnon received an email from a colleague saying the new “proposed messages” had been cleared by their legal department.
Talking points were divided into sub-heads, including “top level”, “cascade security levels” and “transfers”.”The statements were slightly less technical than what was first proposed in February and further emphasized that public safety was taken into consideration.
The messages make it clear that nothing has changed about Bernardo’s sentence. It also included a statement on how difficult a prisoner transfer could be for victims, and messages to use “if pressed” if the offender was eventually transferred to a minimum-security prison.
This message was then sent to the Office of the Privy Council of the federal government on 25 May. She was also received by staff inside the Office of the Minister of Public Security.
The communications team of the Prime Minister’s office was informed the following morning, the emails suggest.
Between May 30 and June 2, media requests began flooding CSC boxes. No one confirmed, in the email, that Bernardo had been transferred just a few days earlier.
There is a specific section more:
“Public safety is the primary consideration in any decision made by the Canadian Correctional Service. While we cannot comment on the specifics of an offender’s case, we assure the public that this offender continues to be incarcerated in a secure institution, with appropriate perimeters and security checks in place. It is important to note that this offender is serving an indeterminate sentence, which means there is no end date of their sentence.”
WHEN WERE THE VICTIMS NOTIFIED?
Bernardo’s victims ‘ families were notified the morning of the transfer. The script for the conversation, which was edited in documents obtained by CTV Neports Toronto, was finalized on May 25.
An email sent on May 26 showed concern about “the optics of notifying victims before the transfer took place.”Staff, who work within CSC’s communications and Executive Services Branch, noted that existing policy supports notification after the transfer is completed.
“My concern is that other victims may be wondering why these particular victims were given advance notice,” the email said. “I understand the compassion and decision-making of this particular case, however, I want to be able to position the VSU to protect potential questions arising from other victims.”
A review of the CSC’s decision to transfer Bernardo, released on Thursday, found that the branch went “above politics” to notify the victims. However, she also said additional steps should have been taken to ensure “more proactive and meaningful discussions.”
The emails show that everyone except the lawyer for the families of the victims were notified by 13: 00 on May 29.
Bernardo arrived at the La Macaza Institution around the same time.
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