Bernardo and Magnotta can play pick-up hockey, but don’t blame Trudeau

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Sadistic sex killer Luka Magnotta may be in a medium-security prison, but Dominic LeBlanc, the minister in charge, says don’t blame him.

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LeBlanc is taking the same stance as his predecessor did in denying any responsibility for Paul Barnardo’s move.

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Thanks to the story broken by The Toronto Sun’s Michele Mandel, we know Magnotta was authorized to move to medium security earlier than Bernardo — in August 2022. The two men now live at a beautiful facility with a hockey rink, tennis court and more, but a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said this was all decided by Correctional Services Canada.

“All decisions regarding inmate transfers are made independently by officials at the Correctional Service Canada,” said Jean-Sebastien Comeau.

The Trudeau government wants you to think that even though they run the country, they aren’t responsible for anything.

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Yes, it’s true that Correctional Services Canada is an arm’s-length agency, but they still have to follow the rules set out in legislation. In 2019, the Liberals changed the legislation, passing Bill C-83, so the rules  allowed this to happen.

“If a person is or is to be confined in a penitentiary, the Service shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the penitentiary in which they are confined is one that provides them with the least restrictive environment for that person,” the law now reads.

The change in the law didn’t come from Correctional Services Canada, it came from the Ministry of Public Safety, the department LeBlanc now operates.

While LeBlanc and the Trudeau government take no blame, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre rightly put this on the Trudeau government.

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“Trudeau’s Bill C-83 has freed him from maximum security into a medium-security prison where he enjoys more freedom and leisure and closer contact with other people,” Poilievre said in response to the news.

“What is Trudeau thinking?”

The answer to that question can be found by looking at Trudeau’s long list of bills that make life easier for criminals.

Bill C-5 reduced sentences for repeat offenders convicted of serious gun crimes like smuggling or extortion with a gun. Bill C-75 made bail easier to get, causing chaos in the justice system.

Fundamentally, the Trudeau government’s philosophy is that the lives of criminals should be made easier, not harder.

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Conservative MP Frank Caputo visited the prison in Quebec where Magnotta and Bernardo are housed. Despite claims that it’s a prison and still harsh, Caputo said after visiting, that’s not the case.

“The first thing you notice is how big of a property it is. It actually feels like a university campus,” Caputo said. “If you go to maximum security, it’s really confined, there are doors everywhere. If you go to medium security, it’s not really all that confined, it feels like university.”

Caputo toured the facility, including Bernardo’s cell, coming eye to eye with the murderer.

“He was well-fed, and well nourished — this is a guy who isn’t missing any meals,” Caputo said.

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The former crown prosecutor and parole officer knows a thing or two about prisons and said that La Macaza is very well appointed. There is a workshop with tools for those who have hobbies or want to work on a project. There is a gym better than most of us have access to, he said, and there is the hockey rink ready for what Caputo calls serial-killer pick-up hockey.

“Inmates can go, and they can get skates, and they can play hockey,” Caputo said. “If you want to play in the evening, there are halogen lights.”

That hockey rink turns into a tennis court in the summer.

The whole thing is outrageous, it’s infuriating and once again, the Liberals are going to claim it has nothing to do with them. They just pass the laws, set the policies, appoint the people who run the place, but it’s not due to them.

When the Trudeau government is finally defeated, fixing the justice and penal system is going to take a lot of work.

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