The provincial public safety minister says his federal counterpart has assured him Allen Legere will not be moved from a special handling unit in a super maximum prison in Quebec.

"He told me he's not going to be moved back to New Brunswick. He's not going to be downgraded and he's not going to be transferred," said John Foran, referring to a telephone conversation he had with Stockwell Day yesterday afternoon.

The former police officer says he had personal experience dealing with Legere and knows his potential for violence and propensity for escaping from custody.

Foran said he was writing a strongly worded letter to Day protesting the transfer and still plans to send it, even with the assurances he received.

Miramichi's mayor earlier told Day the man who once terrorized the region must not be transferred from a super maximum security prison to a standard maximum security facility.

Mayor Gerry Cormier sent a letter to public safety minister Stockwell Day on Monday asking that his department revisit any decision to downgrade the incarceration of Legere.

"On behalf of the citizens of Miramichi, I hereby request that officials in your department take all necessary steps to re-evaluate and overturn any decisions made by Corrections Canada."

The mayor says he was shocked when he read the media reports of Legere's possible transfer from the special handling unit (SHU) in Ste-Anne-des-Plaine.

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Legere is one of only 90 prisoners throughout Canada incarcerated in the SHU.

He says he was even more surprised when he realized the decision was made by a small number of Correctional Service of Canada officials or employees, without any input from others.

CSC would not confirm or deny Legere's possible transfer, citing the Privacy Act, but the author of two books about Legere says if the transfer had gone ahead, he would have wanted the name of the person who signs off on it to be made public.

Rick McLean, who co-authored Terror, Murder and Panic in New Brunswick and Terror's End: Allen Legere On Trial, said his first reaction to the news of the possible transfer was, "Not again!".

"We get to hear about it [the transfer] like it's a great big secret and we're not supposed to know. All I want to know is, if they let this guy go into the general population, whose name is going to be on the form. Whose name is going to sign it as the signing authority — because I want that name to be public.

"Whatever bureaucrat signs off and says he [Legere] is safe enough to be in general population, that name should be public, so if anything happens, we know exactly who to go to. I don't want to hear about any committee. Someone has to sign off on it, put their signature on a piece of paper and I want that to be public. I want that person to know it will be public, so if anything happens, that person will be held responsible."

Waiting for chance to escape

When McLean, who was editor at the Miramichi Leader during Legere's "reign of terror," was asked if he agreed with the assessments of other people that Legere was waiting for another chance to escape and exact his revenge on people in Miramichi, he said, "He's had nothing else to live for since he was thrown back into prison."

McLean says to get a perspective on Legere's state of mind, a person only has to look at the manipulation he exacted after his arrest for the murder of John Glendenning and the beating of Mary Glendenning in June 1986. Legere, along with Scott Matchett and Todd Curtis, broke into the Black River shopkeeper's residence and beat the couple, killing Glendenning and leaving his wife for dead.

"From that moment [of his arrest] until May 5, 1989, he's in prison. What does he spend all his time doing? He spends all his time on one thing and one thing only — conning the people around him into believing he's safe enough so that they can trust him ... when they take him to a hospital in Moncton. That's the only thing he focuses on for three years — and it works.

"What do you think he's been focusing on since they captured him in November 1989? What do you think he's been thinking about ever since. I'm convinced he's still thinking about exactly the same thing — I want out; this community did me wrong; this community deserves to be punished.

"What's he got to lose ... what's the worst thing that can happen to him if he escapes and kills someone? He goes back to where he already is. He has nothing to lose — absolutely nothing to lose."

McLean said that for Corrections Canada to suggest that Legere be kept in anything less than a special handling unit is outrageous.

"For them to suggest that he should be anywhere except in a special cage ... go and watch news footage from that time. Go and talk to people who lived through it here. The Legere lights are still on here at night."

The lights McLean refers to are thousands of dusk-to-dawn lights installed by NB Power while Legere was on the loose. Crews worked overtime putting the lights up in people's backyards.

And, he adds, even though it is close to 20 years since Legere escaped in 1989 and murdered four people — Nina Flam, sisters Linda and Donna Daughney and Father James Smith — in peoples' minds, it is just like it happened yesterday.

"It's pretty hard to forget what it was like in this town where nobody went outside. Talk to anybody here. They can tell you it will not be any different if that guy gets into general population. His only motivation, I'm convinced, is to lull people to sleep and put himself in a position to get out the door one more time — one more crack."

In his letter, Cormier echoes McLean's sentiment.

"The history of Mr. Legere's ability to manipulate officials from Corrections Canada is a historical fact. In all these circumstances, I cannot understand what type of conduct could have been demonstrated by Mr. Legere which would warrant even considering a transfer out of a special handling corrections facility."

Families revictimized

McLean says it is this type of thing that revictimizes the victim's families and the area all over again.

In his letter to Day, Cormier writes of that victimization.

"As you are aware, Allan Legere alone is responsible for terrorizing the citizens of the Miramichi region in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Three of his murders were committed after an escape from a maximum security corrections facility. I believe the people in the Miramichi are uniquely qualified to express an opinion on the risk posed by Allan Legere to the residents of this country."

He continues. "Surely the facts of Mr. Legere's criminal past warrant continued incarceration in the highest possible security facility available. If he does not warrant such careful observation, who does?

"The people of Miramichi paid the price for errors made by Corrections Canada in assessing the patience and manipulative abilities of Allan Legere. Reports of recent developments on the downgrading of Mr. Legere's security status are causing citizens in this community to wonder if Allan Legere's patience has outlasted the tenure of officials with a first-hand knowledge of the danger he truly poses.

"Allan Legere was placed at Ste-Anne-des-Plaine for a reason, namely he was deemed a serious threat to the citizens of this country. I know of no pertinent circumstance which would warrant a change of opinion on this issue and I trust that your office will address this obvious error as soon as conveniently possible."

In addition to Day, Cormier sent the letter to New Brunswick MP Greg Thompson, Miramichi MP New Brunswick Charles Hubbard, and Minister of Public Safety and Miramichi Centre MLA John Foran.

Cormier says he urges members of the community to contact the government officials to let them know their feelings on Legere's transfer.

McLean agrees with Cormier.

"People have to go to the government to stop this from happening."

People to call, e-mail or write to regarding the proposed move

N.B. Safety Minister John Foran

Mail: 86 Henry Street

Miramichi, NB E1V 2N2

Tel: 624-2131/2123

Fax: (506) 624-2140

Fredericton Office:

Mail: Argyle Place

364 Argyle St., P.O. Box 6000

Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1

Tel: 1-506-453-7414

fax: 1-506-453-3870

Email: john.foran@gnb.ca or johnforan.mla@nb.aibn.com

New Brunswick MP Greg Thompson

Mail: House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

(No postage required)

E-Mail: Thompson.G@parl.gc.ca

Tel: 1-613-995-5550

Fax: 1-613-995-5226

MP Charles Hubbard

Mail: House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

(No postage required)

E-mail: Hubbard.C@parl.gc.ca

Tel: 1-613-992-5335

Fax: 1-613-996-8418

Miramichi info:

Mail: 1808 Water St, Suite 1

Miramichi, NB E1N 1B6

Tel: 778-8448

Fax: 778-8150

Public Safety minister Stockwell Day

Mail: 517S, House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

(No postage required)

E-mail: day1@parl.gc.ca

Correctional Services National Parole Board, Atlantic Regional Office

Mail: 1045 Main Street, Unit 101

Moncton, NB E1C 1H1

Tel: 1-506-851-6345

Fax: 1-506-851-6926

Regional Director Brian Chase tel: 1-506-851-6492

Vice-chair Louis-Philippe McGraw tel: 1-506-851-6490

Victims information: 1-800-874-2651

E-mail: info@npb-cnlc.gc.ca

CSC Commissioner Don Head

Mail: 340 Laurier Ave. W.

Ottawa, ON K1A 0P9

E-mail: headba@csc-scc.gc.ca