Member of Parliament wants to see parole made stricter for multiple murderers, including the murderer of a St. Albert couple's son.
St. Albert-Edmonton MP Michael Cooper spoke to the Rotary Club of St. Albert the morning of March 14, delivering an update on Bill S-281. Also known as Brian's Bill, the private member's bill would impose limitations on the parole eligibility for offenders convicted of murder.
Bill S-281, an Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (parole review), would see parole for those convicted of first- or second-degree murder reviewed in statutory timeframes rather than by application of the offender, if day parole or full parole has already been reviewed and denied, terminated, or cancelled by the parole board.
Currently, those serving a life sentence are eligible to apply for parole once every year if their application is denied by the parole board. Bill S-281 was brought forward by Cooper and Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu. The bill would limit offender's applications to once every five years if their parole is denied after review. Cooper believes five years is still too often.
"It is nonetheless, significantly less frequent than the possibility of families having to wait every year or two years to deal with a parole hearing," Cooper said. He said frequent parole hearings take a considerable toll on victims' family members.
"[It causes] significant stress, trauma, re-victimization. Not to mention having to sit in the same room as the perpetrator who took the life of their loved one."
The bill's namesake, Brian Ilesic, along with Michelle Shegelski and Eddie Rejano, were murdered by their co-worker Travis Baumgartner in a robbery at the HUB Mall in the University of Alberta on June 15, 2012.
Under a previous law implemented in 2011 by the Harper government, judges were given the ability to impose consecutive parole ineligibility periods for offenders convicted of multiple murders under section 745.51 of the Criminal Code. Baumgartner was the first multi-murderer to be sentenced to life in prison and without a chance at parole for 40 years under the act.
Cooper said Illesic's parents, Mike and Dianne, felt a level of comfort knowing that they wouldn't have to face Baumgartner at a parole hearing for at least 40 years. They attended the Rotary meeting as Cooper's guests.
In 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the act unconstitutional in that it violated Section 12 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in their R. v. Bissonnette decision.
“By depriving offenders in advance of any possibility of reintegration into society, section 745.51 shakes the very foundations of Canadian criminal law," Chief Justice Richard Wagner said. Cooper said there are some offenders who simply can't be rehabilitated.
"We've seen some of the worst of the worst have their sentences significantly reduced," he said. As of 2021, the federal full parole grant rate for those serving a life sentence was 45 per cent over a five-year average, according to Parole Board of Canada statistics.
"Yes, rehabilitation is one of the principles of sentencing. But there are six principles of sentencing. Five of the six relate to holding the offender accountable and seeing that the welfare of the victims are taken into account and their families."
The bill passed its first Senate reading on Nov. 8, 2023 but hasn't made progress since because of the Senate being tied up with other government and private member's bills, Cooper said.
"But that doesn't mean this shouldn't be promoted, in my view. It's something that I have championed and will continue to champion, and I'm hopeful that perhaps this could be taken up as a government bill."
He hopes there will be some level of bi-partisan support for Brian's bill, regardless of who wins the 2025 federal election.
"I would hope that if the Conservatives form government this is something we would do. I would hope, frankly, that if we don't form a government and the Liberals are re-elected that this is something that they would look at taking up," he said.
