No working rink at prison where MP says notorious inmates play pickup hockey: agency

Canada's prison service says there has been no functioning ice hockey rink for the past two winters at an institution where a Conservative MP says notorious inmates can play 'taxpayer-funded serial killer pickup hockey.'

Canada's prison service says there has been no functioning ice hockey rink for the past two winters at an institution where a Conservative MP says notorious inmates can play "taxpayer-funded serial killer pickup hockey."

Frank Caputo toured the La Macaza Institution last month -- and says that after visiting Paul Bernardo's own cell, he even came face-to-face with the serial rapist and convicted murderer.

Caputo decried the availability of recreational facilities for vicious criminals, but Correctional Service Canada says there is currently no working hockey rink or tennis court at the prison, located about 190 kilometres from Montreal.

And the agency says its understanding is the MP did not "interact" with the infamous convict.

Bernardo was transferred to the medium-security prison last year from the penitentiary in Ontario where he lived for decades.

His move set off a political firestorm for the Liberals, as Tories demanded he be returned to serve out his indeterminate life sentence in maximum-security conditions.

Bernardo was imprisoned for the sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy, in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.