CSC told staff not to inform public about Luka Magnotta transfer: docs

Three days before murderer Luka Magnotta was transferred from a maximum to medium security prison, Correctional Service Canada instructed staff not to tell the public about the move, newly released documents show.

The decision to transfer one of Canada’s most notorious killers back in the summer of 2022 would not come to light for nearly two years.

Internal communications pointed to the Privacy Act as the reason for withholding information, even though the law allows for some exceptions in matters of public interest.

On Dec. 23, 2014, Magnotta was found guilty of murdering and dismembering international student Jun Lin, and mailing his body parts to political parties.

Nearly eight years later, on Aug. 11, 2022, Magnotta was moved from Port-Cartier, a maximum security institution in eastern Quebec, to La Macaza, a medium security prison, northwest of Montreal and continues to serve an indeterminate life sentence.

Internal emails, obtained through access to information laws, show Correctional Service Canada (CSC) sent staff members talking points ahead of Magnotta’s move, telling them to stay quiet about key details.

“We do not announce transfers, as we don’t disclose the location of offenders. If asked, we would advise media that the Privacy Act doesn’t allow us to speak about specific offenders’ cases. We can; however, provide information about security classification and transfers,” reads an email sent by a member of the CSC communications’ team on Aug. 8, 2022.

Another email, sent three months earlier, states then-public safety minister Marco Mendicino’s office had a bilateral meeting with the correctional service and discussed the potential public interest.

“As noted today during the MO (minister’s office) bilat with CSC”