Friday, December 12, 2025
ADVT 
National

Paul Bernardo denied parole after victims' families plead he be kept behind bars

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Nov, 2024 02:43 PM
  • Paul Bernardo denied parole after victims' families plead he be kept behind bars

Notorious killer Paul Bernardo has been denied parole for a third time following a hearing before the Parole Board of Canada.

The parole board noted that while Bernardo has made some progress during incarceration, there is still significant concern about his risk of sexual recidivism and his narcissistic personality disorder, given the "extremely violent" nature of his crimes. 

Bernardo, who is designated 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.

The 60-year-old told the board he was primarily seeking day parole at a halfway house, or at a minimum, escorted absences from prison so that he can attend a community program for sex offenders. 

The victims' families made an impassioned case against Bernardo's bid for release, and said they have been re-traumatized every time his parole hearings come up.

At the end of a daylong hearing at the La Macaza Institution in Quebec where Bernardo is currently held, the parole board reached its decision after approximately 30 minutes of deliberation.

MORE National ARTICLES

Eby wants all-party probe into B.C. vote count errors as election boss blames weather

Eby wants all-party probe into B.C. vote count errors as election boss blames weather
Premier David Eby is proposing an all-party committee investigate mistakes made during the British Columbia election vote tally, including an uncounted ballot box and unreported votes in three-quarters of the province's 93 ridings. The proposal comes after B.C.'s chief electoral officer blamed extreme weather, long working hours and a new voting system for human errors behind the mistakes in last month's count, though none were large enough to change the initial results.

Eby wants all-party probe into B.C. vote count errors as election boss blames weather

'It feels very bad': Brampton reels after two nights of tense protest outside temple

'It feels very bad': Brampton reels after two nights of tense protest outside temple
Monday night saw hundreds of demonstrators gather outside the Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Ont., where police allege people in the crowd were carrying weapons and objects were being thrown.  That demonstration came after violent protests on Sunday outside the same temple spilled over to two other locations in Mississauga, Ont. 

'It feels very bad': Brampton reels after two nights of tense protest outside temple

Fatal crash on Vancouver Island

Fatal crash on Vancouver Island
Police say they're investigating a head-on crash that killed one person on Vancouver Island over the weekend. R-C-M-P say witnesses to the crash on Highway 18 west of Duncan told police that a compact pickup truck was heading west when it drifted into the oncoming lane and struck a one-tonne pickup.

Fatal crash on Vancouver Island

B.C. man charged with second-degree murder in death of estranged wife

B.C. man charged with second-degree murder in death of estranged wife
A man has been charged with killing his estranged wife in Montrose. Police in the West Kootenay community say officers were dispatched Monday after a report of a man assaulting a woman on the front lawn of a home.

B.C. man charged with second-degree murder in death of estranged wife

B.C. ports shuttered as lockout takes hold in latest labour dispute

B.C. ports shuttered as lockout takes hold in latest labour dispute
One of Canada's most vital trade arteries is cut off as employers at most of British Columbia's ports lock out their workers in a dispute involving about 700 unionized foremen.  The BC Maritime Employers Association says it defensively locked out members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 after the union began strike activity yesterday.

B.C. ports shuttered as lockout takes hold in latest labour dispute

Inflation is down, wages are up. Why are Canadians still frustrated with the economy?

Inflation is down, wages are up. Why are Canadians still frustrated with the economy?
The federal finance minister has been taking every opportunity to remind frustrated Canadians that after a bumpy pandemic recovery, the nation's economy is actually doing a lot better. Inflation is now at 1.6 per cent, below the Bank of Canada's two per cent target. Interest rates are falling rapidly and more cuts are on the way. The economy, while weak, has avoided a much-feared recession. 

Inflation is down, wages are up. Why are Canadians still frustrated with the economy?