Magnotta transfer to medium-security prison prompts MPs to call corrections head, warden to testify
CTV
MPs agreed on Monday to launch a limited new parliamentary examination of Canada's prison transfer policies, in light of the new attention around the 2022 decision to transfer notorious Canadian killer Luka Magnotta from a maximum- to medium-security prison.
MPs agreed on Monday to launch a limited new parliamentary examination of Canada's prison transfer policies, in light of the new attention around the 2022 decision to transfer notorious Canadian killer Luka Magnotta from a maximum- to medium-security prison.
MPs on the House of Commons Public Safety and National Security Committee will call Correctional Services Canada commissioner Anne Kelly, as well as the warden of the La Macaza Institution in Quebec to discuss the decision to transfer Magnotta and the process surrounding the transfer.
The decision to hold one special hearing on the subject was a deviation from the initial plan as proposed by the Conservatives — and initially supported by the Liberals — to embark on a broader study that would have included testimony from more than one dozen officials and interest groups.
The debate over how to proceed played out during an emergency meeting of the committee during a House break week. After two hours of deliberation over a series of amendments, ultimately a pared-down motion narrowly passed, without Conservative or NDP support.
Magnotta's incarceration was brought back into political discourse last week when Conservative MP Frank Caputo posted a video to X, detailing his visit to the Quebec medium-security prison La Macaza to see high-profile killer Paul Bernardo's living conditions.
While touring the institution, Caputo said, "one of the guards commented that Luka Magnotta walked right by (him)."
Correctional Service Canada (CSC) then confirmed to media that Magnotta had been transferred from the maximum-security Port-Cartier Institution to a medium-security facility in 2022, without confirming which prison.
