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54-526: Bell was arrested in 1997 and charged in connection with a series of pipe bomb explosions in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island , and Halifax, Nova Scotia , dating from 1988 to 1996. During this time, a series of communications to media and law enforcement officials claimed that the bombings were undertaken by a group calling itself " Loki 7 ". Bell was convicted in 1997 by Chief Justice Armand DesRoches on charges of exploding four pipe bombs over

108-438: A class of school children had passed through the area. Over 20 windows were damaged on the building and shrapnel and debris was thrown around the area. One injury was reported by an individual sitting on a nearby park bench who received a broken ankle and severed blood vessels from the shrapnel and the shockwave. After this explosion, police and media ( ATV News ) received the first communiqué from "Loki 7". On June 25, 1996,

162-401: A much higher bursting strength and so will produce more concussive force. For example, common schedule 40 1-inch (25 mm) wrought steel pipe has a typical working pressure of 1,010 psi (7.0 MPa), and bursting pressure of 8,090 psi (55.8 MPa), though the pipe sealing method can significantly reduce the burst pressure. The pipe can rupture in different ways, depending on

216-497: A number of conditions. Eric Norman Fish was released to a halfway house in 2004 in Vernon, British Columbia . Fish had been serving a life sentence for a 1984 murder. In 2004, Fish was charged with the murder of Jeffrey Drake, whose body was found on the shore of Okanagan Lake . In 2007, Fish was again charged with the murder of Bill Abramenko, a 75-year-old retired carpenter. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police admitted that during

270-753: A period of eight years and was given a nine-year sentence which he served at the Springhill Institution in Nova Scotia. A pipe bomb exploded outside the Sir Louis Henry Davies Law Courts in Charlottetown in October 1988. The bomb was obscured in a flower bed and exploded at 0600, causing no structural damage, although windows were broken and damage was sustained to the law library. After a 6-year lull,

324-576: A pipe bomb planted in a trash can in Halifax's Point Pleasant Park was discovered in 1994. Law enforcement were alerted and the bomb was defused with no damage being reported. On April 20, 1995, one day after the Oklahoma City bombing attack, a powerful pipe bomb that was planted under a wood-framed wheelchair ramp on the north side of Province House in Charlottetown exploded in the mid-morning hours. The explosion occurred several minutes after

378-723: A pipe bomb, the US Department of Homeland Security recommends a minimum of 21 m (69 ft), and an outdoors distance of 366 m (1,201 ft). Pipe bombs are by nature improvised weapons and typically used by those without access to military devices such as grenades . They were successfully used in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). During World War II , members of the British Home Guard were trained to make and use them. In Northern Ireland , there have been hundreds of pipe bomb attacks since

432-610: A police officer and a taxi driver. In April 1990, MacDonald beat, raped, stabbed, and murdered 21-year-old Linda Shaw and set her body on fire. (Although MacDonald was not convicted for this crime (he committed suicide in 1994), his guilt was confirmed by a DNA test in 2005). Michael Hector received full parole after serving half of a 13-year sentence. He had an extensive criminal history, had previously violated parole and had been described in psychological assessments as "a highly criminalized man." In early 1997, approximately 18 months after his release, Hector murdered three people, including

486-652: A report by the Canadian Police Association revealed that between 1998 and 2003, 66 people have been killed by convicts out on early release. Gladys Abramenko filed a lawsuit after she was assaulted and her husband was murdered by Eric Fish, who had been granted conditional release to a halfway house despite serving a life sentence for murder and had been diagnosed with "criminal and anti-social propensities". She reached an out-of-court settlement with several national law enforcement agencies in her civil suit, seeking unspecified financial damages from Fish,

540-463: A result of committing a new offense. In addition, the PBC noted that in the same five-year period, over 16,000 prisoners were released for day parole and that of these, nearly 83% were completed successfully, 12% had their parole revoked for breaches of conditions, and only 5.7% were revoked for committing new offenses. Although Correctional Service of Canada insist incidents like those above are rare,

594-503: A spokesman for the Parole board, stated in an interview regarding the investigation that "People can lie. It would not be the first time the board has been deceived." The investigation did not (and was not asked to) determine how Moyes repeatedly managed to fool the Parole board into releasing him. Moyes will be eligible for parole again in 2027 when he is 72. Allan Craig MacDonald was paroled in late-1989 after serving 12 years for murdering

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648-460: A term of incarceration of less than two years. Only three provinces now have their own parole boards: Ontario , Alberta and Quebec . Parole is an option available to most offenders. The offender will have to spend a prescribed amount of time in custody, depending on the offence. For the vast majority of offences, that period is one third of the total sentence imposed. Parole is not automatic. The parole board must consider, first and foremost,

702-417: A waiting period of 5 years for indicatable offences and 3 years for summary convictions. Additional information was now required for indictable applications, which would detail why they are applying for a pardon, what benefit it would provide and how it would assist their rehabilitation. Applicants would also need to explain changes in their lives since their conviction(s) and give details about what, how and why

756-521: A young boy. Kevin Humphrey was granted parole although he had been sentenced to life for robbing and murdering a man in 1983 before fleeing the country. Despite three previous parole violations, Humphrey was paroled again in 2006. In October of that year, Humphrey stabbed Richard Kent multiple times with a folding knife and then slit his throat in a crack house. Although Kent survived, he still has brain injury symptoms and memory problems. Denis Lortie

810-592: Is a breach in good conduct on the part of the applicant or if a person reoffends and commits an indictable offence and even in some cases a summary offence. The process of a pardon underwent significant changes in the application in June 2010 as a result of amendments to the Criminal Records Act, through Bill C-23B. Specifically, new waiting periods of 10 years were made for personal injury offences and indictable sexual offences. All other offences fell under

864-563: Is a formal means to remove the disadvantages associated with having a Criminal Record for people that have been convicted of a criminal offence. In order to apply for a Record Suspension an individual must complete an application that is later reviewed by the Board and a decision to grant, or deny the application is made by an officer. Under Section 7, the Parole Board of Canada also has the ability to revoke granted Record Suspensions if there

918-400: Is a hazard of attempting to construct any homemade bomb . The materials and methods used with pipe bombs often result in unintentional detonation, usually resulting in serious injury or death to the assembler. In many countries, the manufacture or possession of a pipe bomb is a serious crime , regardless of its intended use. The bomb is usually a short section of steel water pipe containing

972-408: Is wonderful, no one did anything wrong. Except my family is still grieving." Thérèse Clément, the victim's sister stated that "The guilty party here is the judicial system. It's inconceivable that this happened because people didn't evaluate how dangerous this person was." Larry Takahashi received three concurrent life sentences in 1984 for sexually assaulting seven women (he was subsequently dubbed

1026-637: The National Parole Board ) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in Canada. It operates under the auspices of Public Safety Canada . The old Ticket of Leave Act was replaced by the Parole Act of 1959, which enshrined the principle of rehabilitation. As conceived by the Parole Act , the Parole Board of Canada

1080-400: The detonators that they require are difficult for non-state users to obtain. Such explosives also do not require the containment design of a pipe bomb. Instead, explosive mixtures that the builder can more readily obtain themselves are used, such as gunpowder , match heads, or chlorate mixtures. These can be easily ignited by friction, static electricity , and sparks generated when packing

1134-538: The Balaclava Rapist ). In 1997, he admitted to attacking over 30 women and was suspected by police in 120 attacks. In 2003, Takahashi was granted parole despite his own admission that he was at risk to re-offend. Randy White , an MP from the Canadian Alliance party, criticized the board for releasing Takahashi, stating that "Is there something I don’t understand about protection of the public?" It

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1188-754: The Board has the exclusive authority under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to grant, deny, cancel, terminate or revoke day parole and full parole . In addition, the Board is responsible for making decisions to grant, deny and revoke pardons under the Criminal Records Act and the Criminal Code . The head of the PBC is a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs . As an independent agency,

1242-560: The Brossard case prepared by the Parole Board of Canada and the Correctional Service of Canada stated that "the board does not have any criticism to make with respect to the general management of Brossard's correctional plan" and that there was no "irregularity or weakness in the decision-making process." Pierre Etoile, Clement's son-in-law, criticized the parole board, stating that "They tell us in this report that everything

1296-791: The Corrections and Conditional Release Act allow a narrow set of non-violent offenders access to parole after serving one sixth of their sentence. As a response to extensive media coverage and public outcry, the Conservative Party of Canada , at the urging of the Bloc Québécois tabled Bill C-59, a law which end early parole for non-violent offenders. The PBC said that between 1995 and 2000, more than 70% of 11,466 offenders released on full parole completed their sentence successfully while about 16% had their parole revoked for breach of conditions and 12.5% had their parole revoked as

1350-674: The Minister does not direct the operations of the PBC. The annual budget of the PBC is $ 43 million and the headquarters are located in Ottawa, Ontario with regional offices in Moncton, New Brunswick , Montreal, Quebec , Kingston, Ontario , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan , Abbotsford, British Columbia and Edmonton, Alberta . Under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act , which governs federal corrections, provinces and territories may establish their own parole boards for offenders sentenced to

1404-583: The Prince Edward Island station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) received a warning from "Loki 7" about a bomb located at a nearby propane terminal. Law enforcement evacuated the surrounding area and discovered the device affixed to a large above-ground propane storage tank. Several empty garbage trucks were placed around the tank to shield potential blast effects and police bomb squads removed

1458-498: The board for the remainder of the offender's life. For a reflection on the work of a Member of the Parole Board see Lubomyr Luciuk's article in The Toronto Star, "Making parole decisions is one tough job," 23 June 2016. Under the Criminal Records Act , Section 2.1, the Parole Board of Canada is the administrative tribunal that has the exclusive authority to make decisions regarding Record Suspensions. A Record Suspension

1512-530: The capital city of Dublin . As well as users such as criminals, paramilitaries, and militias, they also have a long tradition of recreational use for amusement or mischief with no intention to cause injury to anyone, but due to the dangers of premature ignition and of shrapnel, pipe bombs are much more dangerous than alternatives, such as dry ice bombs or potato cannons . National Parole Board The Parole Board of Canada ( French : Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada ; formerly known as

1566-501: The device using a water cannon. It exploded but did not cause any damage to the propane terminal or other equipment. Law enforcement had no leads following the 1988 and 1994 bombings, although the 1988 case had received much speculation from local residents who thought it might be linked to organized crime . It was not until after the 1995 bombing at Province House that all three were linked together. Communications from "Loki 7" were taken seriously, but with suspicion, since most of

1620-413: The explosive mixture and closed at both ends with steel or brass caps. A fuse is inserted into the pipe with a lead running out through a hole in the side or capped end of the pipe. The fuse can be electric, with wires leading to a timer and battery, or can be a common fuse . All of the components are easily obtainable. Generally, high explosives such as trinitrotoluene are not used, because these and

1674-427: The field of suspects which again included Bell. He was placed under 24-hour surveillance that August and arrested that fall. Bell pleaded guilty and was convicted the following year and sentenced to nine years in a federal penitentiary. He was released for parole in 2006. When Bell was caught, he did not reveal his motives until a 2002 appearance before the National Parole Board , when Bell said, "I think my mission

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1728-451: The file and this was increased to 6 personnel with an unconfirmed number from the RCMP. Roger Bell had gained the interest of Charlottetown Police following the 1988 bombing, but he had been one of many at the time and given the 6-year lull (7 on Prince Edward Island) in activity, he received less interest over time. Less than one month after the 1996 bombing, the joint task force had narrowed

1782-451: The handling of certain cases. Notable examples include: Conrad Brossard was given a life sentence in 1970 after being convicted of murder. He also had a criminal history dating back decades, including multiple convictions for assault, attempted rape and armed robbery. In February 2002, the parole board granted Brossard day parole again. Shortly after his release, Brossard raped Cecile Clement, before stabbing her to death. An internal review of

1836-467: The information could have been gleaned from media reports. Police were also puzzled by how long it took the bomber or bombers to claim credit for each action. The name Loki 7 was also a source of consternation. Police knew that Loki was the Norse god of mischief . As with previous correspondence from "Loki 7", the swastika -emblazoned missive ended with the declaration "Heil, Thor ." Given

1890-412: The material inside the tube or attaching the end caps, causing many injuries or deaths amongst builders. Sharp objects such as nails or broken glass are sometimes added to the outer shell or inside of the bomb to increase the lethality of the device. Pipe bombs concentrate pressure and release it suddenly, through the failure of the outer casing. Plastic materials can be used, but metals typically have

1944-590: The mid-1990s as the Troubles came to an end. Most of the attacks have been launched by loyalist paramilitaries , especially the Red Hand Defenders , Orange Volunteers and Ulster Defence Association . However, they have also been used by Irish republican paramilitaries and by anti-drugs vigilante group Republican Action Against Drugs . They are also used extensively in the south of Ireland by feuding criminals, including drug dealers, mainly in

1998-485: The neo-Nazi rhetoric, police were not led to believe that "Loki 7" represented a white supremacist group. The Charlottetown Police Department , along with major crime investigators and criminal profilers with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), assembled a task force to solve the case. Prior to the 1996 propane terminal bombing, Charlottetown Police had 3 investigators working on

2052-463: The new criteria for parole: the Board could release an inmate who "derived the maximum benefit from imprisonment," when "the reform and rehabilitation of the inmate will be aided by parole," and when "release would not be an undue risk to society." Discretion, of course, is a double-edged sword. The Board had the freedom to deal with each case on its own merits. It also, unfortunately, had the freedom to make mistakes. Board member Frank Miller, for one, saw

2106-442: The odd nature of the letters it was considered by some investigators to be a prank, rather than actual contact from the bombers. This changed after the 1996 bombing when a letter from "Loki 7" described precisely where to find a bomb that had been left at the propane terminal. Each letter contained references to "venal injustice officials" and "crypto-Zionist producers" but revealed little about potential motives. Despite some of

2160-561: The offence occurred. The fee was raised at this time from $ 50 to $ 150. In 2012 Bill C-10 was passed which brought further changes to the Criminal Records Act. The term “pardon” was replaced by “record suspension.” The reasoning behind this is said to be that “pardon” connotes forgiveness, which the government does not want to appear to have given. The waiting period for convictions increased further to five years for summary convictions, and 10 years for indictable convictions, or those whose method of trial cannot be confirmed. The final big change

2214-549: The potential for disaster: "I tried and tried to get them to have a policy," but the members were confident they could rely on their own judgement. The Corrections and Conditional Release Act , Criminal Records Act and the Criminal Code specify the authorities for the PBC. In 2003, it was reported that the whereabouts of over 800 federal offenders and over 1100 provincial offenders on parole and escapees in Canada are unknown. An independent administrative tribunal ,

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2268-463: The protection of the public. Secondary considerations are reintegration, rehabilitation and compassion. When life sentences are imposed, eligibility for parole is 25 years in first-degree murder cases, between 10 and 25 years in second-degree murder cases, and 7 years for other life sentences or indeterminate sentences. Any person released on parole from a life sentence or an indeterminate sentence must remain on parole and be subject to parole conditions of

2322-421: The public until 2006 (and its release was not announced) and only in a heavily redacted format. In support of the decision to release Moyes, the report repeatedly cited his involvement with native spirituality, despite the fact that Moyes is not a native Canadian . When testifying in court, Moyes "happily admitted that he lied repeatedly to parole and corrections officials for the past 30 years." John Vandoremalen,

2376-425: The rate of pressure rise and the ductility of the casing material. Pipe bombs can fail to explode if the gas pressure buildup is too slow, resulting in bleed-out through the detonator ignition hole. Insufficiently tight threading can also bleed gas pressure through the threads faster than the chemical reaction pressure can rise. They can also fail if the pipe is fully sealed and the chemical reaction triggered, but

2430-560: The six weeks Fish was at large, no alert was issued by police or the parole board. Fish's arrest ignited a national debate on the role of the Parole Board of Canada. The case lead to widespread changes for the police and the parole board. In 1995, Robert Bruce Moyes was granted day parole. He was serving a 1987 life sentence for multiple armed robberies and had a total of 36 criminal convictions, including three attempted murders and three escapes from prison. Moyes also had numerous previous parole violations. Later in 1995, Moyes and an accomplice

2484-435: The total pressure buildup from the chemicals is insufficient to exceed the casing strength; such a bomb inevitably fails to trigger , but is still potentially dangerous if handled, since an external shock could trigger rupture of the statically pressurized casing. If any type of bomb is suspected, typical recommendations are to keep all people at a minimum evacuation distance until authorized bomb disposal personnel arrive. For

2538-405: Was a completely independent parole decision-making authority. The legislators envisioned a very powerful organization, with considerable discretionary authority and a much broader mandate than the old Remission Service had. To ensure their immunity from political interference or influence, the five Board members were appointed for 10-year terms, with the possibility of renewal. The legislation set out

2592-411: Was charged with the murder of seven people. Moyes later pleaded guilty to the murders. A subsequent investigation by the Parole Board concluded that there was a "sound basis" for his conditional release from prison and that "It is unnecessary to offer any specific direction on change or amendment to policies, practices or procedures." Although the investigation was completed in 2003, it was not released to

2646-498: Was granted full parole in 1996 after serving 12 years in prison for murdering three people and injuring 13 others. The decision went against the wishes of the victims relatives, although as of 2010, Lortie has not reoffended. Léopold Dion was paroled in 1963. He had been sentenced to life in prison for rape and attempted murder and previously violating parole by sexually assaulting a young boy. Within 18 months of being released, Dion molested 21 children and murdered four of them. Dion

2700-444: Was repeatedly violating his parole by using intoxicants. While on parole, Courchene and an accomplice attempted to kill a police officer by shooting him in the face, stole several vehicles, and committed a home invasion in which they attempted to kill the owner. In early 2011 a convicted Quebec fraudster, Vincent Lacroix was released after serving 18 months of his 13-year sentence for stealing over $ 100 million. Sections 125 and 126 of

2754-438: Was reported that Takahashi's victims will not be told where he will live during his parole because of federal privacy laws. In 2005, it was reported that Takahashi had repeatedly violated his parole by drinking, lying to his parole officer, and socializing with other sex offenders. His parole was subsequently revoked in 2013. In 2016, the board denied Correctional Service's request for full parole, instead granting day parole with

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2808-472: Was simply revenge at society." Pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) that uses a tightly sealed section of pipe filled with an explosive material . The containment provided by the pipe means that simple low explosives can be used to produce a relatively large explosion due to the containment causing increased pressure. The fragmentation of the pipe itself creates potentially lethal shrapnel . Premature detonation

2862-413: Was subsequently killed in prison. Chad Bucknell was granted day parole in 2002, six years after he received a life sentence for murdering four people. Bucknell subsequently disappeared until he was recaptured in 2004. Bucknell was granted parole again in 2006 and had so far not been re-arrested. Daniel Jonathan Courchene, a known gang member, was kept on parole even though the Board knew that Courchene

2916-473: Was the creation of Schedule 1 offences, which is essentially a list of primarily sexual offences against minors. Any person convicted of one of these offences is no longer eligible to apply for a pardon or record suspension, unless they meet some very stringent exceptions. The fee at this time increased substantially in an effort to create a cost recovery model, raising to the current amount of $ 631. The Parole Board of Canada has been criticized for its judgment in

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