Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has ordered Canada’s prison system to tighten transfer policies in the wake of the controversial decision to move child killer Terri-Lynne McClintic to an Indigenous healing lodge … But it’s not yet clear when , or if, McClintic will be transferred back to a conventional women’s prison , or if she has already been transferred.
Goodale said Correctional Service Canada has been instructed to improve policies related to transfers of ” medium-security women offenders to facilities that do not have a directly controlled perimeter “… ” These changes will help ensure the public’s confidence that our correctional system is holding guilty parties accountable for breaking the law , while fostering their rehabilitation , so we can have fewer repeat offenders , fewer victims , and ultimately safer communities ” Goodale said in a statement.
McClintic , who is serving a life sentence for the brutal rape and murder of eight-year-old Tori Stafford of Woodstock , Ont., was transferred from the Grand Valley Institution for Women near Kitchener , Ont. , to the Okima Ohci Healing Lodge for Aboriginal Women on Nekaneet First Nation in southern Saskatchewan. She is not eligible for parole until 2031 …
Transfer sparked outrage. Tori’s father Rodney Stafford wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appealing to him ‘ father to father ‘ to reverse McClintic’s transfer.
Under the new policy Goodale announced today , transfers will have to be authorized by CSC’s deputy commissioner for women , who will be required to ensure that Indigenous communities are engaged in transfer recommendations.
Factors in evaluating transfers to facilities without a controlled perimeter include :
Length of an offender’s sentence.
Time remaining before an offender is eligible for an Unescorted Temporary Absence.
A requirement that long term offenders be at least into the “preparation for release” phase of their correctional plan.
Institutional behaviour, for those serving long sentences.
Goodale’s spokesman Scott Bardsley said CSC will take steps to apply the new rules as quickly as possible , but did not say if McClintic has been transferred or will be transferred soon.
CSC is not permitted to publicly disclose an inmate’s location , but relays transfer information to registered family members of victims, he said.
Source: Goodale orders tougher rules on prisoner transfers to Indigenous lodges following McClintic uproar | CBC News
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