# data[].attributes.body
Criminal law, a part of public law, is a system of law that focuses on the punishment of those who commit crime. Those who are committing crime are not only committing against the victims, as well as society. Those who are prosecuted in Canada, are carried out by the Queen.

# data[].attributes.body
Every offence committed in criminal law contains two elements; mens rea and actus reus. Actus reus, is a Latin term meaning “an action involving guilt”. Mens rea is a Latin term that means, “a guilty mind”. Before a person can be convicted of an offence, the Crown must prove that the accused committed both actus reus and mens rea.

# data[].attributes.body
Criminal Code, a federal statute enacted by Parliament, in the Constitution Act 1867, which provides the federal government exclusive jurisdiction to legislate criminal offences in Canada. The Criminal Code contains most of the criminal offences that have been created by Parliament.

# data[].attributes.body
Canadas homicide rates climb every year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Canada's national homicide rate last year was the highest it's been in a decade, Statistics Canada says, because of a spike in gang-related violence and shootings.

In a report released Wednesday, the agency said there were 660 reported homicides in Canada last year.

Not only was that an increase of nearly eight per cent from 2016, it also pushed up the homicide rate to 1.8 victims for every 100,000 people - the highest since 2009.

Much of the increase was linked to a dramatic rise in the number of gun-related killings, which itself was driven by more gang-related violence.

"Gang-related homicides committed with a firearm represented 12 per cent of all homicides in 2015," Statistics Canada said. "By 2017, this proportion had grown to 21 per cent."

The federal Liberals and Conservatives earlier this month presented competing plans for tackling guns and gangs, which had emerged as significant public-safety concerns even before Statistics Canada's findings were released on Wednesday.

The Trudeau government announced on Nov. 7 a plan to spend $86 million on expanded intelligence and border-security measures for the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency - part of a five-year, $327-million funding promise made earlier this year to stop criminal gun and gang activities.

The same day, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer laid out his own proposal. It would include more punitive measures for gang members, including longer jail sentences and limited parole and bail opportunities for repeat and violent offenders.

Gangs

The moves and promises came after a rash of shootings this year, including a mass attack on Toronto's Danforth Avenue in July that killed an 18-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl and injured 13 others.

Statistics Canada reported that Toronto accounted for the most firearms-related homicides of all cities last year, but British Columbia and Quebec were largely responsible for pushing up the national homicide rate.

"With 2.45 homicides per 100,000 population, the homicide rate in British Columbia was up 32 per cent, making it the province's highest rate since 2009," the agency said. "This increase occurred in both urban and rural areas and can be partly explained by more gang- and firearm-related homicides."

Handguns accounted for 60 per cent of gun-related homicides last year, the agency added, which continued a trend that has seen a steady decline in the number of deaths from rifles and shotguns.

The Danforth shooting led to calls for Ottawa to ban handguns and assault weapons, including from both Montreal and Toronto city councils. Federal consultations on a possible ban are ongoing.

While the increase in the national homicide rate may be troubling, Statistics Canada noted that it remains much lower than the peak of three per 100,000 people in 1975 and accounted for less than 0.2 per cent of all violent crimes reported to police last year.

But the agency said the rates of other serious offences, including attempted murder, sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault were all up last year, as was the use of guns in violent crimes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Statistics Canada blames guns, gangs as homicide rate hits 10-year high | CBC News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Canada's national homicide rate last year was the highest it's been in a decade, Statistics Canada says, because of a spike in gang-related violence and shootings. In a report released Wednesday, the agency said there were 660 reported homicides in Canada last year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Homicide: How does the Canadian Criminal Code establish Liability for Various Killings?

# data[].attributes.body
This case relates to my topic because the assailant committed first degree murder and was found guilty under criminal law Bruce McArther was charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in 2019, for killing 8 men in Toronto. The serial killer took a guilty plea, so the case did not go to a public trial. He was a sexual predator and not only murdered his victims, and took inappropriate photographs of his victims. As a part of his sentence, McArthur will be added to the sex offender's registry and will not be allowed contact with any of the victims' families.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Serial killer Bruce McArthur admits to first-degree murder in deaths of eight men

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most infamous Canadian serial killers and serial rapists, Paul Bernardo was recently denied parol. In 1993 he was sentenced to two first-degree murders and two aggravated sexual assaults, and sentenced to life in prison without parole for at least 25 years by the Crown. He was also designated a dangerous offender, making it unlikely for him to be released.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
BATH, Ont. - As he made his first pitch for parole after 25 years in prison for some of the most horrific crimes in Canadian history, Paul Bernardo was eager, agreeable, strangely docile and unfocused.

He claimed to have discovered and confronted the psychological reasons for his sadistic sexual atrocities, including a series of rapes and the murders of two teenage girls. He said they stemmed from low self-esteem, misguided coping mechanisms, "cognitive distortions" and the disinhibitory effects of stress and alcohol.

"At the time of my crimes, I was everything they said I was," he said. "It hurts. Because I did horrible things."

Slouching in a chair at Ontario's Millhaven Institution before two Parole Board of Canada members, wearing a blue crew-neck T-shirt over a slight paunch with unkempt light brown hair, his voice was soft and breathy, with an occasional slight repetitive stutter.

Bernardo, 54, was quick to answer questions and spoke at length, but strayed from the main topics, which focused on his life in prison and his efforts at rehabilitation. His answers were thick with psychological jargon, focused on general behavioural patterns and theories rather than the extreme specific details of his inner life and his view of his crimes. The lead board member, Suzanne Poirier, suggested his understanding of himself seemed a bit "academic." He was not obviously evasive, but his answers rarely seemed to satisfy the question. Strangely, he often nodded along with questions, almost encouragingly.

Sex is a very small part of my life now. Back then it was a very big part

For the parole board, the question of whether to let Bernardo out of prison comes down to one simple consideration - whether he presents an "undue risk" to society. After a day-long hearing, at which the mothers of his murder victims Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, and one rape victim, gave impassioned statements, the board's decision was exactly what was widely expected - not just because first-time applicants usually fail, but because there has hardly ever been an applicant as notorious and reviled as this.

Bernardo's request for day or full parole was denied after the briefest of deliberations. Letting him go, even though by law he will be subject to correctional supervision for the remainder of his life, would be unduly risky, the board found. He can be considered again in two years. He has been eligible to apply for day parole since 2015, and for full parole since his minimum 25-year incarceration expired this year.

He claimed to have empathy for his victims now, but at the time of his crimes in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he was in his 20s, he was more concerned about his own distress, and his thought that exerting control over victims would restore his self-esteem.

He said he did not enjoy his crimes, for the thrill of the hunt or being aroused by inflicting pain, but rather that he used his attacks to feel better about himself, to ease his pain rather than increase his pleasure.

"I didn't consider their (his victims') emotions as much as, obviously, I should have," he said. "I offended to raise my self-esteem because when it was low, I felt terrible... I didn't go out with the intent to hurt them, I did it for myself."

"Mr. Bernardo, please," said Poirier in incredulous exasperation. She then described the Scarborough rapes for which he was convicted, in which young women were grabbed at bus stops and raped in the bushes. But Bernardo stuck to his story that he did not set out to inflict pain.

"But if they didn't do what I wanted them to do, then I punished them," he said. This was to ease his own pain, with a "disregard" for theirs. This is why he claims he's not actually a sexual sadist, as he has been labelled.

He said his problems with self-esteem are better now that he allows himself to be vulnerable. "I'm a very flawed person," he said.

The self-awareness of Paul Bernardo was not a terribly compelling story.

Shockingly, he identified his failure to save the life of Tammy Homolka - he was a lifeguard, after all - as a key moment in the escalation of his behaviour, for the guilt it caused him. He said it led to two suicide attempts.

"I failed the Homolkas," he said. "I failed Karla."

When I did my offending, I had justifications for why I offended

Bernardo was convicted of manslaughter in Tammy's death, which was part of a plot in which his ex-wife Karla Homolka drugged her sister Tammy unconscious so Bernardo could rape her. Karla pleaded guilty to manslaughter in her sister's death, and also those of French and Mahaffy, and has served the entirety of her controversial 12-year sentence. She now lives in Montreal.

Poirier took him to many contradictions and outrageous statements in his lengthy file, such as his resentment of his victims and their families for demanding his lifelong incarceration. He explained some of this by saying that, after many years in solitary confinement, "I became defensive. I had guards up."

"When I did my offending, I had justifications for why I offended," he said. Over time, through therapy, he said he has been able to "knock down" those justifications to see his behaviour for what it was. "It hits you hard on an emotional level."

"It devastates me what I did in the past. I cry all the time," he said. "What I did was so dreadful."

Asked why it hurts to cry, he said, "It hurts. Because I did horrible things." He was not actually crying.

"Every day I wake up and I treat people well. I don't disassociate what I did," he said. He said over and over again that he cries a lot. He said he is ashamed. Frequently, he seemed to be approaching something like remorse, but then would drop an incongruous comment such as: "My biggest problem is communications skills."

He said his childhood was made difficult because his tongue was attached to the floor of his mouth and he needed a minor operation, then speech therapy.

"This is why I offended in the first place. It was always hard to express what I was feeling," he said. "I always felt inadequate."

He said he developed strange coping mechanisms to relieve his anxiety, such as scraping his own body where people had touched him. These set people off and marked him as socially "weird."

He gave details of a 2014 romantic relationship, which caused his psychologist concern because it coincided with increased fantasies about dominant sex acts including anal sex, and a serious increase in masturbation. He denied pursuing the relationship for the possible positive effect on his chances of release.

"Sex is a very small part of my life now," he said. "Back then it was a very big part."

Bernardo was impassive as the day began with victim impact statements. Donna French said it was "unthinkable" that her daughter's murder, which came chronologically second, should not add a second to Bernardo's minimum sentence. Both French and Debbie Mahaffy quoted his trial judge Patrick LeSage telling Bernardo that he requires jail, "and in my view for the rest of your natural life."

Bernardo's proposal was for a conditional release to a nearby facility that could monitor increased freedoms. With help from lawyer Fergus O'Connor, he said he imagines being moved to a lower security facility and being granted temporary absences, "so you can see what I'm saying (about his rehabilitation) is true, in a controlled environment."

Everybody's scared. There's no reason to be scared, not from me

His lawyer suggested a facility on the grounds of Collins Bay Institution. O'Connor said Bernardo is "resolved and equipped" to continue his good behaviour.

"No one's asking to be let out the door today," Bernardo said. "Everybody's scared. There's no reason to be scared, not from me."

His report to the parole board indicates he has shown "positive institutional conduct," notwithstanding the homemade weapon found in his cell earlier this year, for which a criminal charge was dropped. He has done three treatment courses, including for sex offenders, but shown "minimal gains." He is seen as having a tendency to portray himself in an "overly positive light," and to rationalize his actions to suit his own purposes. He is regarded as having a high risk for intimate partner violence, and moderate risk for recidivism.

He is a "no-contact offender," meaning he spends most of his day in his cell, with one hour of solitary time on the range, and his yard time is spent alone. He said he has hardly any meaningful human contact, and when he does it is "degrading."

"Being me, in prison, is hard," he said.

Correctional Service of Canada did not support his release, and he is regarded as having a "low re-integration potential." His parole officer, Meagan Smith, was especially cutting in declining to add anything at the end of the hearing. "I found Mr. Bernardo presented today as he normally does."

Offered the final word, Bernardo said, "I'd like to emphasize I'm never re-offending again. I don't have the justifications. I've got rid of them through therapy and hard work... What I did was so terrible and I'll never re-offend again."

* Email: jbrean@nationalpost.com | Twitter: josephbrean

Timeline of events in the case of convicted rapist and killer Paul Bernardo
1991
June 15 - Leslie Mahaffy, 14, disappears from outside her home in Burlington, Ont., in the early hours of the morning.

June 29 - Mahaffy's body parts are found encased in concrete blocks in Lake Gibson near St. Catharines, Ont. The same day, Paul Bernardo marries Karla Homolka.
1992
April 16 - Kristen French, 15, is abducted as she walks home from school in St. Catharines.

April 30 - French's nude body is found in a ditch in Burlington, Ont., 500 metres from Mahaffy's grave.
1993
Feb. 17 - Police arrest Bernardo at his St. Catharines home.

April 30 - Police end three-month search of Bernardo's house after warrant expires.

May 6 - Bernardo's lawyer, Ken Murray, enters house and, after receiving phone call from his client, removes videotapes depicting rapes of four girls including French and Mahaffy.

May 18 - Homolka is charged with two counts of manslaughter in the French and Mahaffy slayings after striking deal with Crown. She is freed on bail.

May 19 - Bernardo is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder, kidnapping, forcible confinement and aggravated sexual assault, and one count of committing an indignity to a body.

July 5 - Justice Francis Kovacs orders delay on publication of most information from Homolka's trial.

July 6 - Homolka is convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
1994
March 30 - Crown files a preferred indictment that cancels Bernardo's preliminary hearing and sends him directly to trial on the murder charges.

May 4 - Bernardo pleads not guilty to the nine charges.

Sept. 7 - Murray asks to withdraw from the case. Toronto lawyer John Rosen says he's been asked to represent Bernardo.

Sept. 12 - Rosen formally replaces Murray as Bernardo's lawyer, and says he needs several months to prepare for trial. Murray gives Rosen videotapes, which Rosen later turns over to police.

Nov. 7 - Rosen says the trial should be moved out of St. Catharines because of intense media coverage.

Nov. 10 - Justice Patrick LeSage agrees to move the trial.
1995
May 3-5 - 12 jurors are selected from pool of about 1,000.

May 18 - Trial begins. Prosecutor Ray Houlahan's opening statement portrays Bernardo as a sexual sadist who battered and blackmailed Homolka and strangled French and Mahaffy with an electrical cord.

May 31 - Jurors begin watching videotapes depicting sexual assaults on French, Mahaffy, Homolka's sister Tammy and a girl known in court as Jane Doe.

June 19 - Homolka testifies she was battered into submission by Bernardo and ultimately watched him strangle Mahaffy and French.

July 13 - Rosen, the defence lawyer, concludes cross-examination by alleging French choked to death while Homolka was beating her with a mallet. Homolka denies it.

Aug. 14 - Crown ends its case after three months and 86 witnesses.

Aug. 15 - Defence begins its case. Bernardo admits kidnapping and raping French and Mahaffy to satisfy an "out-of-control" sex life, but denies killing them. He says both died while he was out of the room.

Aug. 22 - Crown finishes cross-examining Bernardo, and defence wraps up its case.

Aug. 28 - In his closing argument, Rosen admits his client - "the devil incarnate" - kidnapped, raped and confined the two girls, but says Crown did not prove he murdered the girls. Rosen says Homolka's testimony was not credible and should not be believed by jurors.

Aug. 29 - Houlahan tells jurors that even if they don't believe Homolka, they should still convict Bernardo of murder because the videotapes provide "overwhelming proof" he killed the girls. The prosecutor suggests Homolka would also have been tried for murder if police had the videotapes in 1993.

Sept. 1 - After eight hours of deliberation, jury declares Bernardo guilty on all nine counts. He is sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 25 years on the two murder charges.
2018
May 18 - Bernardo, now 54, is ordered to stand trial for allegedly possessing a homemade shank in the maximum-security prison where he is serving his life sentence.

Oct. 5 - The weapon charge is withdrawn after the Crown says there is no reasonable prospect of conviction.

Oct. 17 - A National Parole Board panel holds a hearing to consider Bernardo's bid for early release.
The Canadian Press

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'I cry all the time': Bernardo denied parole after 25 years in prison

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
BATH, Ont. - As he made his first pitch for parole after 25 years in prison for some of the most horrific crimes in Canadian history, Paul Bernardo was eager, agreeable, strangely docile and unfocused. He claimed to have discovered and confronted the psychological reasons for his sadistic sexual atrocities, including a series of rapes and the murders of two teenage girls.

# data[].attributes.body
All of McArthurs victims where apart of the LGBTQ community, and targeted them for that.