FOG BLOG JUSTICE LOG: TRUDEAU KNEW ABOUT BERNARDO TRANSFER BEFORE MENDICINO!

Trudeau knew about Bernardo transfer before Mendicino, Poilievre calls for minister to resign Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announced Wednesday he'll be issuing a "ministerial directive" requiring Canada's corrections agency to reform how it handles high profile prison transfers, after it was revealed that the minister's office and the prime minister’s office knew about plans to transfer notorious serial rapist and convicted killer Paul Bernardo, months before it happened.

Facing calls from the Official Opposition to resign, Mendicino dug in Wednesday, defending himself in the House of Commons and putting out a statement indicating changes are ahead, including requiring the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to inform victims any time an inmate is transferred from maximum security to lower security facilities, and "formally and directly" notify the minister in advance.

In a late-breaking development, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office confirmed that the prime minister was briefed on the transfer before the minister was aware.

“As the Minister said in question period, he should have been informed earlier and he has dealt with that,” said PMO spokesperson Alison Murphy in a statement. She said Trudeau was made aware on May 29, but his staff was in the loop earlier. “When a staff member in the Prime Minister’s Office was alerted in March by the Privy Council Office about the possibility of the transfer, inquiries and requests for information were immediately made to the Public Safety Minister’s Office. That was the right step to take given the Public Safety Minister’s responsibility for the Correctional Service of Canada,” Murphy said.

On Tuesday, CSC confirmed to media that it had informed the ministers office by email, first on March 2 and then again on May 25, about the decision to move Bernardo from a maximum security prison in Ontario, to a medium-security prison in Quebec.

"The Correctional Service of Canada has a process in place to provide advanced notice to the Minister’s office on high-profile offenders," said CSC senior communications adviser Kevin Antonucci in a statement.