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Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime
Victims call for parole reform in meeting with Public Safety Minister
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
In the middle of National Victims of Crime Awareness Week, representatives of the CRCVC accompanied the families of murder victims to a meeting on Parliament Hill with the Public Safety Minister, Stockwell Day. On April 16th, the Gardner and Prioriello families presented Minister Day with a petition signed by almost 5000 Canadians, asking him to change the way the Canadian justice system treats families victimized by homicide. They want the Minister to amend current laws to stipulate that convicted murderers should only have parole hearings every five years after reaching their parole eligibility dates. The petition was later presented in the House of Commons.
John, Sally and Carolyn Gardner were present to represent Sheryl, who was a 20-year-old aspiring model working in Toronto when Ralph Ernest Power, then 28, ended her life. Power impersonated a telephone repairman and arrived at Gardner's apartment to fix her phone. Once inside he hit Gardner with a hammer and, when she began convulsing, he hit her 15 more times, bludgeoning her to death. Days later, Power attacked another woman who escaped. When he was arrested, police found files on 15 other women he had been stalking. At the time of the killing he was on parole for an arson sentence. He was convicted in 1981 for Sheryl's murder.
Terri Prioriello's sister Darlene (Dolly) was sexually assaulted, tortured and brutally murdered by David Dobson in 1982. After the murder, he taunted detectives and called the victim's family. In a letter to the police, Dobson vowed to kill again on the anniversary of Dolly's murder. Dobson tried to plead guilty to second-degree murder, but the Crown rejected his attempts and pushed for a first-degree murder conviction. On April 11, 1983, Dobson was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for 25 years.
Both Ralph Power and David Dobson have now reached their Full Parole eligibility dates. The victims' families feel overwhelmed with anxiety and horror knowing that they will face the burden of a hearing every two years, regardless of whether the offender has made positive progress or not.
Most families facing the burden of a hearing every two years are supportive of extending the time between hearings, not to mention groups that work supporting people victimized by violent crime and the public in general. This change would help families already victimized once by the actions of the offender avoid frequent re-traumatization by the federal parole process. Changing the law to stipulate that hearings occur every five years would also allow time for an offender who is truly motivated to change to do some real work between hearings.
The Minister responded favourably, stating that he is fully on side. The CRCVC will continue to push for this important change, in order to better balance the rights of offenders with those who have been harmed.
