Liberals, Bloc Push Back on Tory Attempt to Probe Killers’ Transfers to Medium-Security Jail

Conservative MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Frank Caputo rises during Question Period, March 24, 2022 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

An attempt by the Conservatives to launch an in-depth committee study into the transfer of notorious killers such as Luka Magnotta to medium-security prison has been quashed by Liberal and Bloc MPs.

The Conservatives initiated a special meeting of the House of Commons public safety committee on March 11, following recent news that Mr. Magnotta had been moved out of maximum security in 2022. Mr. Magnotta was jailed for killing and dismembering a university student and is serving an indeterminate life sentence.

The transfer of Paul Bernardo to medium-security in May 2023 had caused an uproar and was studied in committee last fall. Mr. Bernardo is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the 1990s.

Tory MP Frank Caputo brought a motion to conduct six committee meetings on those transfers and hear from a number of witnesses, including Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and his predecessor, Marco Mendicino. Neither had testified as part of the previous committee study on transfers.

Conservative MP Dane Lloyd said a new study is needed with information coming to light “that I think is shocking to Canadians.” Mr. Lloyd said the transfer of Mr. Magnotta suggests the transfer of Mr. Bernardo is part of a pattern rather than an “isolated event.”

Liberal MPs on the committee initially said they would support the study, but with reservation, suggesting the Tories would use it for political gain.

Liberal MP Jennifer O'Connell said her party had “no issue” looking into the transfers further to put forward “reasonable, worthwhile recommendations.” She then added: “I hope that today is not just Conservatives performing for clips.”

Ms. O'Connell first tabled an amendment to add more witnesses to the list proposed by the Tories, which includes the Commissioner of Correctional Service Canada Anne Kelly and the warden of the La Macaza Institution where Mr. Magnotta is held.

The Liberals switched stance, however, after Bloc Québécois MP Kristina Michaud presented an amendment which removed all but Ms. Kelly, the warden, and the correctional officers’ union from the witness list. Ms. Michaud also wanted to reduce the numbers of meetings from six to one.

Her amendment passed with Liberal support, while the Tories and the NDP opposed.

Ms. Michaud argued the committee already had many meetings on the prisoner transfer issue. She said she was more interested to hear specifically from the medical team out of McGill University which assessed Mr. Magnotta’s claim of being transgender. The team was added on the committee witness list.

According to records obtained by the Toronto Sun, the McGill doctors had doubts about the transgender claim and wrote in a report that Mr. Magnotta, who now goes by “Violette,” has “gender nonconformity, without meeting the criteria for Gender Dysphoria.”

“What concerns me in Magnotta’s transfer is that he had requested transfers several times in the past and had been denied. The reason why the last transfer took place was because Mr. Magnotta claimed to be trans,” said Ms. Michaud.

The transfer form from Correctional Service Canada (CSC) indicates the type of institutional transfer as “voluntary.” Mr. Magnotta was moved from the maximum-security prison of Port-Cartier, in northeastern Quebec, to La Macaza, 40 minutes north of Mont-Tremblant, Que, where Mr. Bernardo is also being held.