Deputy Minister had no reason to think that Mendicino was not aware of Bernardo Move: Department

The federal public safety agency is defending a decision by its top officials not to contact the minister directly about the transfer of notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison.

Public safety minister Marco Mendicino has spent weeks dealing with the fallout from Canada’s Correctional Service’s decision to move Bernardo from an Ontario maximum-security prison to a Quebec facility known for offering treatment programs for sex offenders in late May.

The prison service later confirmed that it had first notified the minister’s office at least three months before Bernardo was moved, and again in the days leading up to his transfer, but Mendicino said he did not know until the day after.

E-mails obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act show that Anne Kelly, the federal corrections commissioner, also told Shawn Tupper, the deputy sheriff minister of public safety, and Tricia Geddes, the employee deputy sheriff ministerthree days in advance.

Tupper responded at the time by thanking Kelly for her affirmation.

requested repeatedly why none of the senior officials raised the matter directly with Mendicino, a spokesperson for the department said “neither deputy sheriff had reason to believe that the minister was unaware based on the information they had.”

“As part of its normal practice, the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada informed the Office of the Minister, the Associate (deputy sheriff minister) and the deputy sheriff minister of the decision made in this case,” wrote Tim Warmington.

“It is not usual for the deputies to be involved in operational decisions of the (prison service.).”

Before the House of Commons rose for a summer break, Mendicino announced he would issue a directive ordering federal corrections to ensure public safety minister will be “notified formally and directly … prior to the transfer of high-profile or dangerous offenders.”

Mendicino has called it a mistake on his staff’s part that they didn’t notify him of Bernardo’s move in the first place. He has offered little to explain why he was kept in the dark, and has not said whether anyone has been punished since.

According to her internal emails released to The Canadian Press, Kelly wrote a letter to Geddes and Tupper on June 6, two days after the attack. minister released an initial public statement on the matter expressing shock and outrage.

Kelly inquired whether the Minister’s Office had been notified of the move, noting that she received the same question from the Privy Council Office, the administrative arm of the Federal Cabinet.

“I understand from my staff that someone in (Public Security Department) said (the minister) was not notified,” she wrote in an email with the subject line “PRIVATE — Transfer.”

“We have a reporting process as you know and we certainly followed it.”

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, torture and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont. He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of 15-year-old Tammy Homolka, the younger sister of his then-wife, Karla Homolka. Bernardo also eventually admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women.

Karla Homolka pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was released in 2005 after serving a 12-year sentence for her role in the crimes against French and Mahaffy.

Bernardo spent nearly three decades in maximum security – first at Kingston Penitentiary and then at the Millhaven Institution near Kingston, Ontario. He was transferred on May 29 to the medium-weight La Macaza Institution, about 120 miles northwest of Montreal.

The Federal Correctional Service said his transfer and new security rating are still being reviewed by a three-person panel. In June, Mendicinio had said he hoped the review would be completed in about two weeks.

“We are working to ensure that this review is conducted in a thorough and comprehensive manner to help Canadians provide answers to the questions they have,” spokesperson Kevin Antonucci wrote in a recent email. “We intend to make the results of this assessment public as soon as possible”

He added: “As we have mentioned before, a prisoner can be placed or returned to a higher level of security at any time if it is deemed necessary to ensure the safety of the public or our institutions. And, depending on the results of the assessment, we will not hesitate to do so if necessary.”