Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today regarding Bill C-483 and the journey I've taken to get to this point.
My late husband, Detective Constable Bill Hancox, was stabbed to death on the evening of August 4, 1998, by Elaine Rose Cece and her accomplice, Mary Taylor. Bill was under cover on a routine surveillance detail when Ms. Cece plunged a 13-inch knife blade into his chest while attempting to execute a carjacking. While Cece and Taylor were running from the scene, Bill called for help over his radio. He knew he was gravely injured. He pulled the knife out of his chest and tried to apply pressure to his wound with napkins he found in the car. Bill's efforts and the efforts of those who came to his aid were futile. Bill died of his horrific injuries that night.
Bill left behind his two-year-old daughter Sandra, and his son Quinn, who was born one month after his murder. Bill was a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, and a colleague. Both Rose Cece and Mary Taylor were convicted of second degree murder, with parole eligibility set at 16 and 18 years, respectively.
My very trying and emotionally exhausting experience with the criminal justice system led me through bail hearings, a preliminary hearing, a trial, sentencing, notification of institutional transfers, notifications of escorted leaves, and Parole Board hearings. I have always been active in learning and understanding the developments and decisions that have arisen in an attempt to be prepared for what is coming next. Following two life-serving offenders through the system for the past 15 years has been an endless task of patience and emotional endurance.
After attending Rose Cece's Parole Board hearing in June 2010, I felt confident and relieved that the board had taken my thoughts and concerns into serious consideration, and together with their review of Ms. Cece's submissions, they denied her request for escorted temporary absences.
My sense of relief was short-lived. In December 2011, I received notification from Correctional Service of Canada that Ms. Cece's warden had authorized a 60-day work release program with pre-approval for any ETAs that may be relevant during that time period. Ms. Cece was transferred out of her institution and into a halfway house.
I was shocked, angry, frustrated, and disillusioned. How could it be that the very clear denial of the Parole Board just 18 months earlier was seemingly dismissed without any consideration? The Parole Board stated that Ms. Cece lacked insight into her crime, had mixed responses to programming, had recurring issues with anger and violent tendencies, had been convicted of assaulting a correctional officer, and had been disciplined numerous times for institutional misconduct. What on earth was the warden thinking? What had changed? Why was there no hearing? Why was I not notified? Why were my thoughts and concerns not considered? In my opinion and in the opinion of the Parole Board, this offender was not ready to be released into the community.
In an effort to understand what had gone so terribly wrong, I learned that in fact nothing had gone wrong. The warden's authority to release life-serving offenders into the community is clearly set out in CSC's commissioner's directive 710-3. It states that the institutional head has the authority to grant ETAs to offenders who are within three years of their parole eligibility date. Ms. Cece had passed that date by three months when the warden authorized her work release.
Ms. Cece's accomplice, Mary Taylor, has also benefited from this current legislation. In May 2012, the Parole Board authorized one ETA a month for Ms. Taylor, for 12 months. I was informed by CSC in February of this year that the warden had authorized several more ETAs for Ms. Taylor. This offender progressed from one ETA a month authorized by the Parole Board to 17 ETAs a month authorized privately by the warden.
These are my concerns.
Three years before parole eligibility is an irrelevant reference point. The warden's decision-making practice is not transparent and is not held to the same objective independent standard as the Parole Board's is. Transferring release authority from the Parole Board to CSC gives an offender the opportunity to avoid the scrutiny and objectivity of the board in favour of a more informal, possibly biased, review by institution staff. It gives the warden an opportunity to, in essence, override a Parole Board decision and move an offender forward on their own agenda.
Accountability is severely compromised as a result of this closed-door process. There is a lack of consideration for victims, which impedes progress of victims' rights and recognition within the criminal system. This practice undermines the public's confidence in a system that is supposed to keep them safe from violent offenders.
I certainly understand and accept that offenders will be released back into the community at some point. I also understand that an offender's ultimate release has little hope of success without a carefully managed reintegration plan. While the warden and CSC staff play an important role in preparing an offender for release, ultimately the decision of whether or not an offender is ready should remain solely with the Parole Board. It is the Parole Board's statutory obligation to ensure public safety, and fulfilling that obligation is not possible if institution heads have the ability to make release decisions independently and in spite of Parole Board recommendations.
At the very least, the institution heads should be working within the parameters of a release plan authorized by the Parole Board, and any expansion of that release plan should be taken back to the Parole Board for consideration.
I support Bill C-483. Victims want respect for what they have endured through honesty, transparency, and accountability. More important, I am a voice for my husband. Those rights did not die with him, and he would be deeply troubled to know that his murderers could gain a benefit from a warden that they could not gain from the Parole Board. The public also wants to have confidence in a system that releases our most dangerous citizens back into the community. I believe that Bill C-483 addresses those needs.
As a point of interest, Rose Cece appeared before the Parole Board in March 2013, after her 60-day work release, with a request for day parole. She was denied. In November 2013 the Parole Board of Canada appeal division upheld that decision. This clearly demonstrates that the Parole Board and CSC have a fundamental difference of opinion regarding the readiness of violent offenders returning to the community. In the absence of common ground and continuity between the two agencies, the final decision regarding offender release must remain with the Parole Board of Canada.
Thank you for your time.