With the help of letters from constituents, Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty says he will continue to wage a campaign to put serial killer Cody Legebokoff back in maximum security prison.
Doherty first raised the issued in the House of Commons in February when he "specifically challenged" Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. In March, Goodale responded with a letter to Doherty in which he effectively issued a rebuff.
Goodale said Legebokoff is incarcerated in a facility "surrounded by two chain-link fences, topped with razor wire and equipped with an electronic detection system. The facility also has multiple armed posts, cameras and mobile patrols."
A Corrections Canada spokesperson has said a medium-security institution has the same security safeguards as maximum-security, but allows for more interaction among offenders.
"Our government remains focused on ensuring that our correctional system holds guilty parties accountable while providing an environment conducive to inmate rehabilitation, staff safety and protection of the public," Goodale said.
In September 2014, Legebokoff was sentenced to life in prison without eligibility to apply for parole for 25 years for the murders of three women and a teenage girl - Jill Stuchenko, 35, Natasha Montgomery, 24, Cynthia Maas, 35, and Loren Leslie, 15.
In January, Legebokoff was transferred out of maximum security, sparking an outcry from the victims' families.
The Northern Women's Centre at University of Northern British Columbia has since joined the chorus, issuing a form letter it is encouraging people to sign and send to Goodale. In part, it notes that Legebokoff has served only five years and that B.C. Supreme Court Justice Glen Parrett said at sentencing that Legebokoff "should never be allowed to walk among us again."
"If Legebokoff completes the rehabilitation programs available to him in medium security prison, he will only learn more pro-social skills that will assist him to be a smarter, more discrete and efficient murderer," NWC says in the letter.
Doherty is encouraging constituents to send letters of concern to him.
"Send them to me and I will actually print every one of them and put them on his (Goodale's) desk every day," Doherty said.
Doherty's main email is [email protected].
