By Rick Pusiak
The Greater Sudbury Police Services Board has become the first board in Canada to pass a resolution backing the goals and directives of the Justice Over Everything: Making Appropriate Choices (JoeMac) committee.
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Const. Joe MacDonald |
Board members voted unanimously in favour of a motion authored by JoeMac Monday night at the monthly police services board meeting.
The motion calls for the return of cop killers Clinton Suzack and Peter Pennett to a maximum security prison to serve the duration of their 25 year sentences for the murder of Sudbury Const. Joe MacDonald more than eight years ago.
The Sudbury police officer was executed by Suzack and Pennett while on routine traffic patrol early on the morning of Oct. 7, 1993.
The JoeMac resolution also calls for an external review of Correctional Services Canada following revelations of a policy that allows for the "cascading" of prisoners to lower-security settings and ultimately freedom based on meeting numerical targets or quotas.
Before the Monday night vote, JoeMac spokesman and Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci gave each police board member a copy of the motion that his committee hopes will be passed by every police board in Canada.
He also handed each member an encyclopedia-size binder with copies of government documents proving the existence of cascading.
"Now we have our first lobby group on side with this resolution," said Bartolucci.
"The police services board of the City of Greater Sudbury is now a member of the JoeMac committee."
The Ontario Association of Police Service Boards starts a three-day annual conference May 2 in Sudbury and local board chair Andy Humber assured Bartolucci the JoeMac resolution will be on the agenda.
Humber also said he will put the resolution on the agenda of the Canadian Association of Police Service Boards annual meeting in Ottawa this August.
Bartolucci, meanwhile, updated the board on JoeMac's 45-minute meeting last month with Canada's solicitor general Lawrence MacAuley.
MacAuley was surprised with the documentation presented by JoeMac that proved the existence of a policy to "cascade" prisoners from maximum- to medium-security institutions, said Bartolucci.
MacAuley can't be blamed for not being aware of the situation and he doesn't think MacAuley was feeding them a line, said the veteran MPP.
"Correctional Services Canada is a humungous organization," said Bartolucci.
"They were in the midst of the change from one commissioner to another. We provided evidence to the solicitor general who found...(it) to be compelling. In fact he's going to take a look at it and hopefully render his decision to support the resolution the police services board just passed."
Almost two years after MacDonald was killed, Suzack and Pennett went to trial and were sentenced to life in prison.
The sentencing judge recommended the prisoners serve their entire sentence in maximum security.
The convicted murderers are now both residing in so-called "Club Fed" medium-security facilities.
"We had a bright young police officer executed by two thugs who brutally beat him and then put the bullet in the back of his head," said Bartolucci.
"I would suggest to you there is absolutely nothing more important to the MacDonald family than that they have closure with this issue and that in fact justice is rendered."
Bartolucci doesn't believe problems would be created in the corrections system if cascading was brought to an end.
He said there can be opportunities for re-integration and education even in maximum security.
Bartolucci has not heard yet when the solicitor general might be making an announcement on the JoeMac resolutions.
He did note a group of MPs including Nickel Belt's Ray Bonin, Bob Wood from Nipissing riding, Carmen Provenzano from Sault Ste. Marie and Reginald Belair from Timmins-James Bay riding, were scheduled to huddle in Ottawa Monday night to discuss a co-ordinated effort to change things at Correctional Services.
Meanwhile, Bartolucci said he and the entire JoeMac committee will continue its campaign to ensure necessary changes are made and people who execute police officers spend their entire sentence under heavy guard in maximum-security institutions.
