National News Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, March 9, 2006 - The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the National Parole Board (NPB) today made public the Report of the Board of Investigation into the release and supervision of federal offender Eli Ulayuk. Ulayuk was serving a life sentence for manslaughter and was on full parole when he was charged with the murder of CSC Community Parole Officer Louise Pargeter who died on October 6, 2004.

The Board of Investigation was convened by the Commissioner of CSC and the Chairperson of the NPB soon after the offender's arrest following this tragic incident. The release of the report was delayed until the trial proceedings had concluded. However, Ulayuk pled guilty to second degree murder on February 22, 2006 and was sentenced to life without eligibility of parole for 25 years.

The Board's report addresses all aspects of the case, including the offender's behaviour prior to and following his release into the community, the quality and nature of supervision provided, and the appropriateness of CSC staff safety practices. The Board also examined NPB's decisions, the quality of the risk assessments as well as the NPB's decision-making policies and procedures.

This is the first time in CSC's history that a community parole officer died in the line of duty, and CSC immediately took corrective measures to mitigate risks to help ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again. Many of the recommendations in the Board's report have already been implemented, and CSC and NPB have developed action plans that together constitute the appropriate federal response in several areas such as:

• Community staff safety policies;
• Risk assessment and risk management;
• Intervention programs with offenders;
• CSC's gathering of essential information from other sources; and
• Other issues related to how CSC plans, organizes, and delivers correctional operations and services.

The NPB has already taken action to reduce the number of hearings per day for Board Members and expanded orientation training for new Board Members as well as ongoing annual training for all Board Members.

In addition to this Report, as required under the Canada Labour Code, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) also investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Pargeter and submitted their recommendations to CSC for consideration and review.

This news release, the Executive Summary and vetted report of the Board of Investigation, and CSC's Action Plan developed in response to the recommendations may be found on CSC's web site www.csc-scc.gc.ca under "Media Room".

A summary of NPB's response and action taken can be seen on the Parole Board's web site at www.npb-cnlc.gc.ca under "What's New."

The above documents have been vetted according to the provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts.

FOR INFORMATION

Michèle Pilon-Santilli
Correctional Service of Canada
Ottawa, (613) 371-7127

Jeff Campbell
Correctional Service of Canada
Yellowknife, (867) 766-8501

John Vandoremalen
National Parole Board
Ottawa, (613) 954-6547

 

BACKGROUNDER

Since the tragic death of Correctional Service Canada (CSC) Community Parole Officer Louise Pargeter in Yellowknife, NWT on October 6, 2004, CSC has taken a number of steps to strengthen practices in community staff safety and parole supervision.

On October 21, 2004, CSC announced immediate interim measures while current policy underwent review. Existing community staff safety measures reinforced at this time were:

• Community Parole Officers can request additional support while conducting any home visit for safety reasons;
• Community Parole Officers should regularly discuss their cases with their supervisors and identify concerns as well as appropriate changes to the supervision measures, as necessary. A safety plan can be developed to deal with home visits including any additional measures required to ensure staff safety;
• Prior to any home visits to remote areas, Community Parole Officers are to notify police services in the area, as a precautionary measure;
• Video/training course on "Community Supervision Safety Training."

A Joint CSC-USGE (Union of Solicitor General Employees) Advisory Committee on Community Safety was convened in November 2004 with a mandate to review ways to enhance community staff safety through a review of staff training, technological support, facility standards, operating policies and practices, and resources. The Committee has since been granted permanent status and was also recognized in the Board of Investigation report as an excellent vehicle for identifying the safety needs of staff and to provide guidance towards a strong framework to ensure the safety of community staff.

CSC has made improvements and established new initiatives to strengthen community staff safety.

Staff safety assessments are required on all new conditional releases to the community and any case supervision reassignments prior to any community visit.

An "alert" signal entitled Staff Safety Considerations has been created and is now included on CSC's Offender Management System (OMS) database.

• All community staff must have the capacity to communicate by phone while carrying out their duties in the community.
• All community offices must have reliable sign in/out system that ensures the means to verify the location and safety of community staff.
• All community offices must have up-to-date contingency plans that include a specific plan to deal with situations where a staff member cannot be located or does not return from a job-related duty.
• All program and parole officers, psychologists and sections supervisors to receive the three-day Community Personal Safety training, and annual safety refresher training.
• Revisions to the Parole Office Facility Guidelines addressing safety enhancements.

For more information, please consult CSC's Action Plan on CSC's web site or
contact CSC Spokesperson Michèle Pilon-Santilli, (613) 371-7127.