Ernie Hardeman – Bob Runciman Resolution – Karla Holmoka
Thursday, April 14, 2005

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the house today to speak to a public safety issue involving such a horrendous case -- a case that over the years has never stopped being in the public eye – a story so horrible -- with such a profile and a history that it would be foolish of us to think we can look the other way.

This case involves serial sex offender and killer, Karla Homolka and her pending release from Joliette prison in Quebec.

I share the concerns of my colleague from Leeds-Grenville -- that upon her release from prison -- Karla Homolka poses a grave risk to the community.

This is why I am speaking to and supporting my colleague’s private members resolution being debated in the legislature this morning. The Ontario government must vigorously pursue every legal channel required to protect the public from Homolka once she is released from prison in July. Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely imperative that this province do everything possible to guarantee the public that they will be safe upon her release –
that the strictest conditions and safe guards be put in place so that we will always know where she is and what she is doing. The public deserves the right to feel safe in their own homes and on the streets. It is sad to say that there will always be crime and there will always be victims of crime, but what Karla Homolka and her husband Paul Bernardo did was beyond any nightmare anyone could imagine. I understand that in mid-June, an application will be made before a Quebec provincial court judge to limit Homolka's freedoms under the Criminal Code ---

But, what concerns me the most is that we are being told that there is no guarantee any restrictions on her daily activities will be granted by Quebec’s provincial court. Mr. Speaker, it has been 12 years and we are now faced with the reality that Karla can walk away from prison. It defies logic that someone who has committed a series of brutal murders, such as the ones she was convicted of, can be certified as completely rehabilitated and will never offend again.

Mr. Speaker, I again state my support of this resolution and implore this provinces attorney general to fight for public safety by legally requiring Karla Homolka to be restricted as to where she can go, who she can associate with, to enforce curfews and force her to report regularly to police – it has been discussed very publicly that there are reasonable grounds to believe she could harm again.

We can’t let this happen again.

Thank you.