The Liberal government has defeated a Conservative private member’s bill that would have required dangerous offenders and multiple murderers such as Paul Bernardo to remain in maximum-security prisons.Bill C-232, introduced by Conservative MP Tony Baldinelli, was voted down in the House of Commons despite Conservative arguments that the measure would have strengthened public confidence in Canada's correctional system and prioritized the interests of crime victims.The legislation sought to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act by requiring inmates designated as dangerous offenders, as well as those convicted of more than one first-degree murder, to be assigned maximum-security classifications and housed in maximum-security institutions.Baldinelli said the bill was designed to prevent notorious offenders from being transferred to lower-security facilities.“Bill C-232 would have required inmates who had been found to be dangerous offenders or those convicted of more than one first-degree murder to be assigned a security classification of maximum and confined in a maximum-security penitentiary or area in a penitentiary,” he said in a statement following the vote.The Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake MP specifically cited convicted killers Paul Bernardo, Mark Smich, Dellen Millard and Luka Magnotta as examples of offenders who should remain behind maximum-security walls..“This legislative effort was about doing what was right, by ensuring criminal monsters such as Paul Bernardo, Mark Smich, Dellen Millard, and Luka Magnotta were returned to serve their sentences in maximum security, where they rightly belonged,” Baldinelli said.“Sadly, these Mark Carney Liberals voted against this common-sense change.”The issue gained national attention after Bernardo, one of Canada's most infamous serial killers, was transferred from the maximum-security Millhaven Institution in Ontario to the medium-security La Macaza Institution in Quebec in 2023.The transfer sparked outrage from victims' families and prompted calls for legislative changes to prevent similar moves involving high-profile offenders.Baldinelli blamed previous Liberal legislation, including Bill C-83, for creating the conditions that allowed such transfers to occur.“These criminals should never have been allowed to be transferred from maximum-security confinement. Yet, because of bad Liberal policies in Bill C-83, that is exactly what happened in all of these cases,” he said.The Conservative MP argued the legislation should have received support across party lines, describing it as a straightforward measure focused on public safety and victims' rights.“The bill should have been considered a non-partisan and common-sense solution to an issue too often plaguing our criminal justice system,” he said.“A system which seems to favour the rights of the offender over those of victims and their families.”Baldinelli said the defeat of the bill represents a setback but pledged to continue pushing for changes to federal corrections policies.“I remain committed to ensuring changes will be made so that the rights of victims and their families are made the priority over those of the offenders,” he said.
