# Petition to change Correction and Conditional Release Act



## Old Ranger (4 Mar 2008)

www.oppa.ca

Link to Petition Corrections and Conditional Release Act.

Victims and their families dealt another blow
On Jan. 7, 2008, the Federal Court of Canada granted a judicial review to Allan MacDonald, the convicted killer of Ontario Provincial Constable Tom Coffin, and ordered that he be transferred from a maximum security facility and incarcerated closer to home.  It also ordered that he be reimbursed $4,000 for court costs.

This is an outrage, for all victims and their families, in fact, all Canadians.

Allan MacDonald walked into a bar in the town of Penetanguishene, Ontario in May 1997, put a gun to the back of OPP Const. Coffin's head and pulled the trigger.  He executed Const. Coffin because this officer had charged him with impaired driving about a year before.  Const. Coffin was killed for doing his job – the job that citizens of this country expect police officers to do.

MacDonald was convicted of first degree murder and won't be eligible for parole until 2022.  He had initially been jailed at the medium security Fenbrook Institution in Gravenhurst until an assessment indicated he should be housed in a maximum facility.  He was subsequently transferred to Joyceville Penitentiary near Kingston.

MacDonald, however, appealed this decision and listed a number of arguments, one of which was his assertion that the decision was based solely on the complaints of the victim's widow and on representations made by the Canadian Police Association (at the request of the Ontario Provincial Police Association).  He termed these "unilateral decisions" and ones that should not have been made.  In granting him a transfer back to Fenbrook, the court decided to place him closer to his family, friends and support group.  His transfer also placed him squarely back near the family of the officer he murdered.

Once again the rights of criminals outweigh those of victims and their families.

The current legislation has no provision for factoring in the effect the criminal and the crime have on any victim’s family.  In this instance, it never considered the effect such a move would have on Prov. Const. Coffin’s widow, his children, his parents and siblings who still live in the area, not to mention the community he served and the policing community to which he belonged.

We are adamant that all victims of crime, the loved ones, and friends left behind, must not continue to be victimized by the criminals who stole so much from their lives.

I have gone on record to state that the Ontario Provincial Police Association will be asking the Canadian Police Association and the Police Association of Ontario to assist us with a lobby effort to rectify this piece of legislation. We are adamant that the family, friends and loved ones left behind should not continue to be victimized by the likes of this criminal.

If you feel as strongly as Ontario Provincial Police officers do about this injustice then we urge you to sign our on line petition.

Thank you for your support.

Karl Walsh
President
OPP Association


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