‘Nothing but a scumbag’: Ontario Premier Doug Ford comments on Bernardo move

Ontario Premier Doug Ford didn’t hold back on Tuesday morning when critiquing the Correctional Service of Canada’s decision to move killer Paul Bernardo to a medium-security prison.

“He’s nothing but a scumbag. This SOB needs to be in jail 23 hours a day, in a maximum security [prison]”, said Ford during the question period at Queen’s Park.

“The crime was the most heinous crime in Canadian history — he tortured, he raped, and he murdered these two young girls, and the pain the family is going through again should never be seen.”

Officials with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers confirmed to CityNews last week that Bernardo had been transferred from Millhaven Institution just outside of Kingston to La Macaza Institution northwest of Montreal.

Commissioner of the Correctional Service Anne Kelly ordered a review to ensure the move was appropriate and evidence-based, but Ford said, “No Canadians have confidence in your decisions” and that she should either step down or be fired.

“When we sentence someone to life sentences, that means a life sentence in jail, maximum security, 23 hours a day. Matter of fact, I’d go one step further, that one hour he’s out, he should be in the general population,” continued Ford.

Ford had previously said in a statement released Monday that Bernardo “should rot in a maximum-security prison for the rest of his miserable existence. Full stop.”

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, torture and murders of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.

He was also convicted of manslaughter in the death of his ex-wife Karla Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy Homolka, and admitted to sexually assaulting 14 other women.