Murderer got Wonderland trip: Police
Hard-core criminals given travel permits Chiefs cite practice in demand for changes
The justice system is so dysfunctional that convicted murderers and sex offenders are allowed to visit Canada’s Wonderland for the day, Ontario’s police chiefs charge.
York Region Police Chief Armand La Barge said yesterday as many as nine hard- core criminals — all on some form of parole — were given travel permits by their federal handlers this summer so they could attend the popular amusement park north of Toronto.
“ Can you imagine the victims, who are still trying to put their lives together, running into their attackers?” La Barge, president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said following a Queen’s Park press conference. He said the convicts aren’t always escorted. Officials at Canada’s Wonderland could not be reached for comment. One of the cons was serving a life sentence for second- degree murder and sexual assault while armed, while another was serving six years for manslaughter and trafficking in drugs.
ACorrectional Service Canada official said travel permits are issued all the time.
“ Travel permits are issued for offenders who are being supervised in the community and they are authorized for a number of reasons, including education, employment, humanitarian reasons, medical reasons and recreation,” Holly Knowles said. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has decided to launch a campaign targeting what it sees as serious flaws in the justice system, both provincial and federal, and the lack of appropriate sentencing.
“Conditional and intermittent sentences, house arrest . . . mandatory parole and weekend passes to local theme parks do little to dissuade murderers . . . child molesters ( and others) from committing these horrific crimes,” La Barge told the press conference.
Critics say it is one more reason why the Ontario government should not transfer responsibility for probation and parole to the federal government as some other provinces have done.
“ The last thing they ( the public) want is for us to turn over the affairs of parole and probation to the people who are sending convicts to Canada’s Wonderland for the day,” Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory said yesterday. La Barge said the courts are handing out the sentences that don’t reflect the seriousness of the crimes.
“ The police and the public are quickly losing confidence in the system’s ability to deal with those individuals who involve themselves in predatory, violent and organized criminal activity,” he said. An aide to federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said the Criminal Code provides for minimum and maximum sentences and that it is up provincial prosecutors to seek the appropriate sentence.
Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant said there is legislation being introduced this fall that will address some of these concerns as well as “ streamline” the justice system. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police has formed a criminal justice committee headed by former association president Tom Kaye, the police chief in Owen Sound, to push to “ restore public confidence in this important institution.”
While La Barge spoke at Queen’s Park, representatives from Canada’s largest police associations were testifying before a Commons committee in Ottawa, demanding a get- tough approach beginning with mandatory jail sentences for weapons- related offences. Deputy Chief Tony Warr of the Toronto Police Service told the federal committee “ there is no truth in sentencing” and that the courts “ aren’t following through on the results of all our hard work.”
“ It’s time for us to pull our heads out of the sand and recognize the carnage on our streets,” said Warr.