Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announced Wednesday he’ll be issuing a “ministerial directive” requiring Canada’s corrections agency to reform how it handles high profile prison transfers, after it was revealed that the minister’s office knew about plans to transfer notorious serial rapist and convicted killer Paul Bernardo, months before it happened. Facing calls from the Official Opposition to resign, Mendicino dug in Wednesday, defending himself in the House of Commons and putting out a statement indicating changes are ahead, including requiring the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to inform victims any time an inmate is transferred from maximum security to lower security facilities, and “formally and directly” notify the minister in advance.
On Tuesday, CSC confirmed to media that it had informed the ministers office by email, first on March 2 and then again on May 25, about the decision to move Bernardo from a maximum security prison in Ontario, to a medium-security prison in Quebec.
“The Correctional Service of Canada has a process in place to provide advanced notice to the Minister’s office on high-profile offenders,” said CSC senior communications adviser Kevin Antonucci in a statement. While noting that decisions around specific cases and operations such as offender transfers and victim notifications fall under CSC’s purview, not the minister nor their office, Antonucci said that the first email sent notified Mendicino’s office of the transfer, as well as “communications messaging” but the final date of Bernardo’s move had yet to be determined. Source: ctvnews.ca
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
