A lawyer representing the families of two women tortured and killed by notorious killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo says the victims' mothers have a right to deliver their victim impact statements in person at Bernardo's upcoming parole hearing. Bernardo is shown in this courtroom sketch during Ontario court proceedings via video link in Napanee, Ont., on Friday, October 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Greg Banning

A lawyer representing the families of two teenage girls murdered by notorious killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo says they have been denied the right to deliver their victim impact statements in person at Bernardo's upcoming parole hearing.

In a letter sent to the Parole Board of Canada chairperson and others, lawyer Tim Danson says he was recently informed the victims' families won't be able to attend the Nov. 26 hearing at La Macaza Institution in Quebec because the board was "unable to ensure safety and security of all hearing attendees."

Danson says the families are demanding that the hearing be adjourned to next month or some other date so they and their lawyers can travel to La Macaza and read their victim impact statements in person.

Bernardo was transferred from the maximum-security Millhaven Institution in Ontario to the medium-security La Macaza last year, a decision that prompted public outcry.

Bernardo, who is designated as a dangerous offender, is serving an indeterminate 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 near St. Catharines, Ont.

He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of his then-wife Karla Homolka's 15-year-old sister, Tammy.

In a statement, a spokesperson for federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Parole Board, as a quasi-judicial body, makes its decisions independently.

"Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, who continue to live with the trauma caused by this individual’s abominable crimes," LeBlanc's press secretary Gabriel Brunet wrote.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Wednesday morning, Conservative MP Frank Caputo said the decision to deny the families the right to attend was "so wrong on so many levels."

"Why is it that the safety and security of the jail in this instance is preventing people from exercising their rights under the Victims Bill of Rights?" said Caputo, one of the party's critics for justice and public safety.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024