[CTV.ca News Staff]

The government and opposition parties have reached a deal to keep convicted sex killer Karla Homolka from receiving a criminal pardon.

Homolka would have been eligible to apply for a pardon as early as July 5, and MPs have been scrambling to find a way to keep her potential application from being granted.

At a news conference on Wednesday evening, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the Tories and the opposition parties had reached a last-minute agreement to push pardon reforms through before the Commons closes for the summer on Thursday.

"We essentially have a deal with the Bloc and the New Democrats," he said. "The Liberals are looking at a couple of details but I think on the essential components of an agreement, we will proceed forward with a bill."

Toews said he could not provide specific information on the new legislation, but he described it as a "compromise effort" to pass pardon-reform legislation before the House is adjourned for the summer.

Responding to a question, Toews said he believes that a person convicted of offenses such as Homolka's would not likely qualify for a pardon, if the proposed bill is passed.

"This is an issue that is much greater than one person," he said.

The proposed bill would prevent people convicted of certain crimes from applying for a pardon for a specified number of years, Toews said. It would also give the National Parole Board discretion to deny a pardon request.

Under the agreement, Toews said MPs would vote on a piece of legislation that has been "split off" from Bill C-23, which was introduced by the Tories in May and would bar those convicted of serious violent or sexual crimes from applying for a pardon.

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois oppose some of the measures included in Bill C-23.

"Like a lot of the government's legislation, it mowed down everything in its wake," NDP public safety critic Don Davies said on CTV's Power Play.

As an example, he said Bill C-23 proposed that anyone who has more than three indictable offenses would be barred from receiving a pardon.

"That's the old American three-strikes-you're-out approach that even American states are rejecting now because it works injustices," he said.

Bill C-23 will now be taken up by the House in the fall, Toews said.

Meanwhile, MPs are expected to vote on the new pardons bill on Thursday.

Homolka received a 12-year manslaughter sentence in a plea-bargain deal for taking part in the rape-murders of teens Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French. Videotapes found after the sentencing showed her to be a more active participant.

Her release from jail in 2005 sparked nationwide outrage.

Tim Danson, the lawyer for the Mahaffy and French families, said news that Homolka may have been ready to seek a pardon for her horrific crimes was disturbing.

"On a personal level, it's very emotional the words Karla Homolka and pardon come up in the same sentence," he said for the families. "They are pretty anxious about what's going on."

Danson said the families are pragmatic about the government trying to speed up the passage of their bill in response to Homolka.

"They accept you don't make public policy based on one individual," he said. "This is something that requires careful debate."

[Click Here] to view on ctv.ca

Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)

[Toronto Sun]

ST.CATHARINES, Ont. – There are some crimes that simply cannot be forgiven or forgotten, says the niece of the woman killed by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

"Forgiveness is up to us, the victims, not the government," said Talin French-Doyle, niece of the late Kristen French.

Homolka served 12 years for manslaughter after a plea bargain for her part in the rape and murder of French, 15, and Leslie Mahaffy, 14 of Burlington.

On July 5, if politicians in Ottawa do not reach an agreement to change the Criminal Records Act, Homolka will be eligible to apply for a pardon.

A pardon is a legal chance at a fresh start. It seals someone's criminal record, making them eligible to get a job, travel, adopt and volunteer like any other Canadian.

MPs in Ottawa are trying to derail Homolka's bid by debating Bill C-23, which would make dpeople convicted of violent and sexual crimes ineligible to even apply for pardons.

If a pardon is issued, French-Doyle said it would be like saying Canadians have forgiven and forgotten what Homolka did to her aunt.

"That's not OK. It's anything but OK," she said Wednesday.

She said her family is worried because of the precedent set by hockey coach Graham James — convicted of sexually assaulting some of his players in the '80s and '90s — who received a pardon in 2007.

Both St. Catharines Conservative MP Rick Dykstra and Welland NDP MP Malcolm Allen are concerned, because most pardon applications are approved.

Last month, French-Doyle was worried enough that she started a petition to urge Parliament to change the law to prevent someone like Homolka from getting a pardon.

"It started on Facebook, where I heard (Homolka) might be able to get a pardon," she said. "I got the petitions out there and in just a couple of weeks we had 1,700 signatures asking the government to fast-track C-23."

French-Doyle sent the petitions to both Dykstra and Allen, but only heard back from Allen.

"He asked me to come and meet with him, and I did," she said. "He seemed very concerned."

C-23 is currently locked in a parliamentary stalemate. The government wants to fast-track the bill before the House of Commons breaks for the summer and Homolka is eligible to apply. The Liberals want to have experts comment on the bill before passing it.

To fast-track the bill, the government will need the support of the entire House of Commons on both second and third readings and agree not to send the bill to committee.

If a deal between the parties on the language of C-23 cannot be reached, the bill may pass second reading but will be sent to a committee for hearings, said Dykstra.