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An attorney representing the families of two teenage girls murdered by notorious serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo says they have been denied the right to present their victim impact statements in person at Bernardo’s upcoming parole hearing.

In a letter sent to the chairman of the Parole Board of Canada and others, lawyer Tim Danson said he was recently informed that the victims’ families would not be able to attend the November 26 hearing at the La Macaza establishment, in Quebec, because the commission was “unable to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the hearing.”

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Danson says the families are demanding that the hearing be adjourned until next month or another date so they and their attorneys can go to La Macaza and read their victim impact statements in person.

Bernardo was transferred last year from the maximum-security Millhaven Institution in Ontario to the medium-security La Macaza Institution, a decision that sparked public outcry.

Bernardo, designated a dangerous offender, is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Kristen French, 15, and Leslie Mahaffy, 14, in the early 1990s. 1990, near St. Catharines, Ontario. .

He was also convicted of manslaughter in the December 1990 death of his wife Karla Homolka’s 15-year-old sister, Tammy.

In a statement, a spokesperson for federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Parole Board, as a quasi-judicial body, makes its decisions independently.

“Our thoughts are with the families of the victims, who continue to live with the trauma caused by this individual’s heinous crimes,” wrote LeBlanc’s press secretary, Gabriel Brunet.

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Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday morning, Conservative MP Frank Caputo said the decision to deny families the right to attend was “so wrong in so many ways.”

“Why is the safety and security of the prison in this case preventing people from exercising their rights under the Victims Bill of Rights? said Caputo, one of the party’s justice and public safety critics.

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