Marco Mendicino adds to the Liberal government's paperwork problems
CBC
We might still get around to having a real conversation in this country about why and how the Correctional Service of Canada decided to transfer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security facility.
But it's increasingly unclear that Marco Mendicino will still be the public safety minister if or when that conversation happens.
In the meantime, the Conservative leader's decision to demand the minister's resignation on Wednesday likely only ensures that Mendicino remains in place until a cabinet shuffle expected sometime later this summer.
The demand for Mendicino's exit was prompted by the CBC's report that staff in the minister's office were aware of Paul Bernardo's pending transfer as far back as March 2. Subsequent reporting confirmed that the Prime Minister's Office was also made aware in March and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was himself briefed on the transfer on May 29.
According to the version of events presented by the government, the minister's staff did not feel it necessary to tell him about the transfer of one of Canada's most notorious murderers until May 30, a day after the move was made and a day after Trudeau was briefed.
It's not obvious why Mendicino's advisers would keep their advance notice to themselves.
According to the minister's spokesperson, the office spent those weeks exploring whether the minister had any discretion to overturn the CSC's decision — and determined or decided that no such option existed. That is an important point that should be part of any debate about prison transfers.
But that apparent lack of options doesn't mean there was no reason to tell the minister about something that he inevitably would be asked about by reporters anyway.
WATCH: Poilievre, Mendicino get into fierce debate about Bernardo transfer
And if they really did neglect to alert the minister to Bernardo's impending transfer, it's still puzzling that they also apparently failed to keep him from describing the transfer as "shocking" when he released a statement on June 2. That's not the word to use when, conceivably, you could have known about the event in question for three months.
In that same statement, Mendicino expressed concern with how the transfer was handled and said he would be speaking to the CSC commissioner directly. But it's now obvious that Mendicino could have done that before the transfer occurred.
Mendicino has now issued a new directive that stipulates, in part, that the CSC must "formally and directly" notify the minister when a dangerous or high-profile offender is transferred. That only reinforces the fact that something went terribly wrong here.
Despite the highly emotional and traumatic subject matter, this episode might still be marked down as only an unfortunate breakdown — except that it's difficult to view this latest controversy as an isolated incident, either for the minister or this government.
The Conservatives presented their own lengthy list of Mendicino's mishaps on Wednesday. And while some of the items on that list may have been unfairly framed, Mendicino's time at public safety has also been much messier than it needed to be.
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