Miramichi mayor wants more info about serial killer's status

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by Marc Hudon

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The mayor of Miramichi says he's demanding that the federal government hand over more information about the prison status of the notorious serial killer who terrorized the region 20 years ago.

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Gerry Cormier said he's penned a letter asking the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board to recognize the community as a victim of Allan Legere's grisly killing spree that claimed the lives of five people between 1986 and 1989.

"This level of terror was unique to the Miramichi," said Cormier. "It's as if it happened yesterday."

He said city officials are requesting specific details about Legere's status in prison and notification prior to any decision to downgrade his security level.

"We want to be notified about something like this before it happens," he said.

"I don't want to take a chance to ever have something like that happen again."

He said recent media reports that the Correctional Service of Canada was planning to transfer Legere from the super-maximum security Special Handling Unit at Ste-Anne-des-Plaines near Montreal to a lower security prison rekindled deep-seeded fear and outrage among the public.

Word of the transfer sparked a series of calls and letters from Cormier, New Brunswick Public Safety Minister John Foran, and Miramichi Liberal MP Charles Hubbard.

Federal Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Tuesday that Legere will remain at the super-maximum security prison — but that his case will be up for review again in four months.

Cormier said his attempts to gather details about Legere's transfer have been stonewalled because the Correctional Service of Canada cannot release information to the public about prisoners because of provisions in the Privacy Act.

"I'm getting calls from citizens asking, ‘Why are they doing this?'" Cormier said.

"And I couldn't answer, because I didn't know. Everything seems to be so hush-hush."

Since 1992, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act has allowed for the release of information about offenders to people they harmed.

Victims must register to access the information, but there is no way for the public to know when or why a prisoner has changed facility.

Heidi Illingworth, executive director of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crimes, said victims and community members should be consulted before a prison transfer takes place.

"They need to be told, "This is going to happen,'" she said. "Not just, ‘This did happen. Deal with it.'"

Steve Sullivan, federal ombudsman for victims of crime, said legislation governing victims' rights is in its infancy and still evolving, which makes designating an entire community a victim of a crime difficult to do.

"We've come a long way with victims' rights," he said.

"But, we have a long way to go before we look at the broader applications."

Sullivan said the difficulty of broadening the legislation to include the public would be trying to assess why the public needs the information.

He said inquiries would be heavily scrutinized to identify motives that might put the offender at risk.

Despite the challenges, Sullivan said the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board can be more transparent by taking an active approach to helping victims understand their rights.

"The ideal system would be for those agencies after six months to a year after the offender received a federal sentence that a letter be sent from those agencies with an information package that explains their rights and the services offered," he said.

"They should be alerting victims to what their rights are and how to exercise them."

Cormier said residents of his community who still live in fear of Legere would like the same courtesy.

"I don't think the people of Miramichi or New Brunswick deserve to go through this again," he said.