Bernardo prison hasn’t had working rink for two years, officials say in response to MP’s criticism

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OTTAWA — Canada’s jail service says there was no functioning ice hockey rink for the previous two winters at an establishment the place a Conservative MP says infamous inmates can play “taxpayer-funded serial killer pickup hockey.”

Frank Caputo toured the La Macaza Establishment final month, and says that after visiting Paul Bernardo’s personal cell, he even got here “face-to-face” with the serial rapist and convicted assassin.

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Caputo decried the supply of leisure amenities for vicious criminals, however Correctional Service Canada says there may be at the moment no working hockey rink or tennis courtroom on the jail, positioned about 190 kilometres from Montreal.

And the company says its understanding is the MP didn’t “work together” with the notorious convict.

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Bernardo was transferred to the medium-security jail final yr from the penitentiary in Ontario the place he lived for many years.

His transfer set off a political firestorm for the Liberals, as Tories demanded he be returned to serve out his indeterminate life sentence in maximum-security circumstances.

Bernardo was imprisoned for the sexual assault and homicide of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, within the early Nineteen Nineties close to St. Catharines, Ont.

He was additionally convicted of manslaughter within the December 1990 demise of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka, the youthful sister of his then-wife, Karla Homolka. Bernardo, who was designated a harmful offender, has admitted to sexually assaulting 14 different ladies.

The jail service has stated procedures had been adopted and Bernardo had lengthy met the standards to be reclassified as a medium-security inmate — choices Ottawa says are made at arm’s size from politicians.

Caputo, a Conservative MP from British Columbia who serves as one of many get together’s critics in Parliament on justice issues, launched a video on social media detailing a tour he took of the establishment.

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Within the practically seven-minute video, Caputo detailed how he was offered entry to Bernardo’s cell whereas the inmate was away.

He stated that after a “couple of minutes” within the area, he circled to see Bernardo, whose likeness was “unmistakable.”

“Simply seeing him, coming eye to eye with him, I had a bodily response,” he stated. “Even simply speaking about this brings again recollections.”

The correctional service confirmed that Caputo and union representatives visited the jail in early February and that officers granted the MP’s request to entry Bernardo’s cell whereas the inmate wasn’t current.

“As this go to was by the MP and union representatives, they’re higher positioned to answer questions on particular occasions that occurred,” spokesman Kevin Antonucci stated in an e-mail.

Nonetheless, he added, “it’s our understanding that individuals didn’t work together with Paul Bernardo throughout their go to.”

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In a response to questions from The Canadian Press late Monday, Caputo didn’t immediately handle questions on his ostensible encounter with Bernardo.

He stated he needed to see for himself “how the worst killers like Bernardo live,” suggesting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has prioritized inmates’ consolation over public security.

A spokesman for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers confirmed a few of its representatives had been current in the course of the tour of La Macaza however declined to talk to any specifics, saying, “We don’t remark about detainees.”

I walked outdoors and I had a glance and I stated, ‘What’s that — seems like a hockey rink.’ It was

The correctional service has stated the medium-security jail Bernardo is housed in has a fringe and that his switch posed no hazard to the general public.

Members of Parliament, senators and judges have the appropriate to enter any a part of a penitentiary they want and may go to any inmate, as long as the prisoner offers consent, based on the regulation governing federal corrections.

Caputo stated within the social-media video that he requested permission to enter Bernardo’s cell and whereas inside noticed objects like margarine containers drying on a prime bunk, mint chocolate bars and an electrical razor, which he requested if the inmate had bought.

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“You could possibly see all this stuff, and it seems like any person very atypical lived in that jail cell. And but he’s a monster,” the MP recalled.

Caputo stated within the video that he was struck by Bernardo’s demeanor when he walked up. “He knew I didn’t belong, and he was seemingly asking about that. … In French, he stated, ‘All the pieces good?”‘

Tom Engel, president of the Canadian Jail Regulation Affiliation, stated he was “stunned” by Caputo’s description and questioned whether or not Bernardo’s privateness rights had been violated.

The correctional service stated in a press release Tuesday that Caputo’s “proper to entry any a part of La Macaza was topic solely to such affordable limits as are prescribed for safeguarding the safety of the penitentiary or the security of individuals.”

The company added: “This a part of the (regulation) promotes transparency of the correctional system by permitting parliamentarians and others to see how penitentiaries function and look at dwelling circumstances.”

Engel stated in an interview Monday that he had by no means heard of an MP going right into a prisoner’s cell and searching round.

“I can’t think about too many prisoners who would say, ‘Yeah certain, are available in, particularly after I’m not there.”‘

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Caputo’s video additionally took intention at the concept inmates would have entry to leisure amenities.

“I walked outdoors and I had a glance and I stated, ‘What’s that — seems like a hockey rink,”‘ he recalled within the video. “It was.”

“Inmates can go and so they can get skates and so they can play hockey,” he railed.

In an interview with CBC’s Dawn Kamloops, Caputo added the rink “didn’t seem like it had been plowed in a short time,” however famous he additionally noticed two nets and was instructed by officers that inmates might signal out skates.

The correctional service stated whereas boards are up round a rink on the establishment, “there has no been no ice for the previous two winters.”

“There may be at the moment no functioning hockey rink or tennis courtroom being utilized by inmates at La Macaza,” Antonucci stated in an e-mail.

“It must also be famous that alternatives to take part in leisure actions is just not distinctive to La Macaza, and could be present in different establishments.”

Offering inmates with entry to leisure actions “promotes safer establishments for many who stay and work in our amenities,” by having their time spent “in a productive, managed and wholesome method,” Antonucci stated.

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Catherine Latimer, the manager director of the John Howard Society of Canada, says Canadians are largely unaware of the cruel dwelling circumstances prisoners face.

She stated she believes in inmates gaining access to sport “to maintain bodily energetic and bodily match.”

“I don’t see them as having any kind of better benefit than residents who aren’t prisoners have,” she stated in a latest interview.

On Tuesday, Caputo posted on social media that “in fact” the rink isn’t at the moment working.

“It’s spring,” he stated, and “too heat for hockey.”

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