Corrections defends Paul Bernardo’s privacy amid calls to detail transfer reason

The Correctional Service of Canada is defending Paul Bernardo’s privacy rights after the public safety minister said they should be waived.

Marco Mendicino says Canadians deserve to know why the serial rapist and killer was transferred from a maximum-security prison to medium security.

The independent federal correctional service is reviewing the transfer after widespread backlash, saying in a statement earlier in the week that while it understands Canadians want answers, it was “restricted by the law” in what it can say.

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What prison authorities are allowed to disclose, including to victims, is outlined in the law governing corrections and in the federal Privacy Act.

Federal correctional spokesman Kevin Antonucci says in a statement today that under the privacy law it cannot disclose an inmate’s personal information without their consent, “except in specific circumstances.”

It says considerations include the sensitivity of the information as well as the likelihood and level of “injury relative to the benefits of the disclosure to the public.”

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2023.