Transparency is one. The family should be told exactly what these breaches of conditions are when the offender breaches a condition or when he's in prison and does something that ends up with him in isolation or suspends his parole. We should be told what it is, but we're not told. We're not told till months later. Even then, there are things we aren't told.
I think that as victims we deserve to know that. No, it maybe doesn't have to do with the original crime, but he's in there serving time for the original crime. I believe all of that adds on to it, and it's our right to know. We're constantly told later. It's like our trip to Montreal that was cancelled. It was months later before we found out why it was cancelled. It has just been continuous. There needs to be transparency.
In our case, when he escaped custody and was gone for three weeks, we again did not get any answers. They said his warrant was issued on September 1, which was a Thursday, but he does a five-and-two day parole. He spends five days on his own and two days in a halfway house. We don't actually know when he was last seen. They couldn't tell me where he was or where they thought he might be. It's not fair to the families.
I was questioned: “Why do you think you're in harm's way?” I think anyone can see that we've managed to keep him in prison for an extra long time after his parole was due, and that's because of his offences. I think we should be told exactly what's going on when it happens. I think victim services should take more of a part in helping the victims.
I had the RCMP call me two and three times a week to check on us, to make sure we were okay, but I was also told that I should install a security system, with cameras, at my house. To me, that's not my job to do that. It's their job—Corrections, the Parole Board—to keep an eye on him, to make sure they know where he is, so that the victims don't have to worry all the time. We shouldn't be the ones who have to go and put it out to the public. He's a high-risk offender. He's a violent offender. He's been in jail since the 1970s almost continuously. When he has been out, it's been on parole, and his parole has been revoked.
We're not getting answers. We only find stuff out later. We get to the parole hearings and he already has all of our statements, so he knows what to say. It's not fair to the victims. What we say should not be given to him prior to....