Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino's office said Thursday that it was informed about Paul Bernardo's pending prison transfer at several key junctures leading up to the move.
That included the office being "informally advised in the weeks that followed" the transfer decision being made on March 27, it said in a statement.
The Liberal government was already dealing with fallout from the Correctional Service of Canada's decision to move the convicted killer and serial rapist out of a maximum-security prison in Ontario to a medium-security institution in Quebec. Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said Thursday that he thinks the government "will get through" the concerns over information flow, which have largely centered around the handling of intelligence about foreign interference.
Mendicino's office added in a later statement on Thursday afternoon that the reclassification decision that led to the transfer had been made in February. Speaking briefly to reporters after appearing before a parliamentary committee studying foreign interference, Mendicino called it "unacceptable" that he wasn't informed earlier by his staff.
In the House, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre also challenged the Liberal government to support a private member's bill from an Ontario Tory MP that proposes to change the rules so that convicted murderers with multiple victims must serve out their entire sentences in maximum security. He has 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.
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