On January 22, 2020, Ms. Marylène Levesque was murdered by Mr. Eustachio Gallese in the suburb of Sainte-Foy, in Quebec City. At the time, Mr. Gallese was in the community on day parole, and was living at Maison Painchaud, a halfway house managed by a community partner pursuant to an agreement with Correctional Service Canada (CSC). On February 5, 2020, the House of Commons passed the following motion:

That the House: (a) condemn the decision of the Parole Board of Canada that led to a young woman’s death by an inmate during day parole in January of this year; and (b) instruct the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security to conduct hearings into this matter, including a review of the changes made by the government in 2017 to the board’s nomination process, with the view to recommend measures to be taken to ensure another tragedy such as this never happens again.[1]

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (the Committee) undertook this study and between March 10, 2020, and June 14, 2021, over two parliamentary sessions, and heard from 18 witnesses, including current and former Government of Canada officials, former Parole Board of Canada (PBC) members, and representatives from a variety of civil society organizations.

On January 21, 2021, the Committee received the PBC and CSC National Joint Board of Investigation (BOI) report on its investigation into these events. The BOI was chaired by two external co-chairs who are criminologists.[2] While the report contained no recommendations for the PBC, five recommendations were made to CSC.

Witnesses testified on a variety of topics and provided the Committee with numerous thoughtful suggestions as to how to prevent a future event of this nature and improve Canada’s conditional release system. Certain witnesses spoke to the circumstances of the case, the decisions made by the PBC and the investigation conducted by the Joint Board of Investigation, while other witnesses spoke to the appointment process for members of the PBC, as well as the training and working conditions for PBC members and CSC parole officers. Members of different civil society groups shared their perspective on matters including the relationship between this incident and violence against women and sex workers, the rights of victims of crime and the importance of rehabilitation for offenders, both within correctional facilities and in the community.

The Committee extends its sincere condolences to the family of Ms. Marylène Levesque. It would also like to thank all of the witnesses who shared their expertise and perspectives and express its hope that another needless tragedy can be prevented.