Trudeau learned of Paul Bernardo Transfer the day it happened, before Mendicino knew

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office says so learned about the transfer of Paul Bernardo to prison on the day it happened – a day before Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino.

The confirmation came as conservatives called for Mendicino’s impeachment over his office’s handling of information that the convicted murderer and serial rapist was being released from maximum security prison.

While his office was advised of the possibility of the transfer to a medium-care facility nearly three months before it happened, Mendicino said he found out about it the day after Bernardo moved.

“As the minister said in question time, he should have been informed earlier and he handled that,” said Alison Murphy, a spokesman for Trudeausaid a statement.

Murphy said a staffer in Trudeau’s office was alerted in March by the Privy Council Office that the transfer was a possibility, and “questions and requests for information were immediately submitted to the office of the secretary of public safety.”

The statement did not explain why Trudeau was not informed of the transfer until May 29.

“Now we know why Justin Trudeau will not fire his incompetent minister: Justin Trudeau’s own office was warned in March that Paul Bernardo, one of the most vile monsters in Canadian history, would be transferred to medium security to enjoy greater freedom and comfort,” Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilièvre tweeted Wednesday late.

“Instead of acting, the prime minister did nothing and left it to his most useless minister. This is a failure of leadership at the top.”

Calls for Mendicino’s resignation dominated the round of questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday, with Mendicino saying “corrective action” has been taken to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

The allegations came after the Correctional Service of Canada announced the timing when it first notified the minister’s office of the plans surrounding Bernardo.

Spokesman Kevin Antonucci said the Correctional Service first emailed Mendicino’s office on March 2 about the impending move.

The service reached out again on May 25, this time including updated “communication messages” and information that the handover would take place on May 29.

Mendicino’s first public reaction came on June 2, when he called the correctional service’s decision “shocking and incomprehensible.”

That statement made the minister guilty of telling “lies” to Canadians, Poilièvre said Wednesday, because his office knew nearly three months in advance and Mendicino had known for days.

“Why haven’t the staff been fired?” asked Poilièvre before his party’s weekly caucus meeting.

“Marco Mendicino must resign,” he added, saying that if the minister refuses to resign, Trudeau should fire him.

Mendicino’s office did not respond to questions about why staff withheld information from the minister. He did not answer questions from reporters.

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.

He also admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women and was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Tammy Homolka, who died after being drugged and sexually assaulted.

Tammy was the 15-year-old sister of Bernardo’s then-wife Karla Homolka, who was released in 2005 after serving a 12-year prison sentence for her role in the crimes against French and Mahaffy.

Mendicino, speaking in French, told the House of Commons that “it was a mistake in my office” not to inform him when the Federal Correctional Service first presented the information.

“I also made it clear to my staff that this should have been notified immediately, corrective action has been taken, I have dealt with it and we will now always stand up for victims’ rights,” he told fellow MPs in English .

He separately announced plans to issue a directive to the Correctional Service that the Secretary of Public Safety “must be notified formally and directly … prior to the transfer of high-profile or dangerous offenders.”

He said in Parliament that a directive will also call for the agency to “put victims’ rights at the heart of transfer decisions” and inform their families before transfers take place.

A review of the correctional service’s decision to transfer Bernardo is currently underway, which he says does not pose a threat to public safety.

Antonucci said he expects that review to be completed “within a few weeks.”

A three-person panel will examine the “appropriateness” of his new classification, consideration and notification to his victims, and “whether the legislative and policy framework was followed,” he said.

Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the French and Mahaffy families, said on Wednesday it was an unsettling birthday.

“It’s extremely acute,” Danson said. “We are involved in this controversy the day Paul Bernardo kidnapped Leslie Mahaffy.”

Danson said he spoke with Mendicino on Wednesday morning and they had what he described as a “candid but constructive conversation.”

He says the victims’ families are “very, very distressed” by the minister’s lack of notification, saying the incident demonstrates an “arrogant attitude” to the situation and “humiliates” the memories of their daughters.

Danson also wondered how it could be possible that the staff in the minister’s office had not given him advance notice of Bernardo’s transfer, given Bernardo’s notoriety and brutal criminal past.

“Is this about plausible deniability?” he asked.

He and Poilièvre have both insisted that Mendicino has the power to overturn Bernardo’s transfer through a ministerial directive.

Poilièvre has said those convicted of multiple murders should always serve their full sentences in maximum security facilities.

The minister has repeatedly said that his office has no power over the security classification for detainees as the correctional service operates as an independent institution.

Mendicino suggested to the Commons that Poilièvre’s proposed solution to take direct action on the matter would amount to “political interference”.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that firing or demoting the minister is not the answer, saying he believes this was an example of the Liberal government being worthless when it comes to sharing information.

Instead, he laid the blame at the feet of Trudeau and said there are legitimate concerns about how the minister has handled his portfolio, including the Liberals’ controversial gun legislation.

“It doesn’t look like he has his house in order,” Singh said.

“I just don’t want to let the Prime Minister go just like that. I want to make it very clear that the prime minister sets the tone.”

Some liberal top people, such as President of the House of Representatives Mark Holland, also expressed their concern about the information flow within the government.

“It’s good for us to see if we have the right processes in place to handle the flow of information in a country as big and as large as this. There’s an enormous amount of information in this form,” Holland said.

“So we need to review our processes and make sure they’re as strong and rigorous as possible, and if there are communication gaps, that’s an opportunity to look at how we can fix it.”

Asked about the need for staff to be disciplined, backbench Liberal MP Chris Bittle said he understands why that would make sense.

“The gut reaction would be: of course. But I’m sure this is (a) staff member who may be overworked, probably feeling about a foot tall and wanting to hide under a rock.”