No working rink at prison where MP says notorious inmates play pickup hockey: agency

Canada's prison service says there is no working hockey rink at an institution where a Conservative MP says notorious inmates play «taxpayer-funded serial killer pickup hockey.»

Correctional Service Canada says there is currently no functioning hockey rink or tennis court for inmates to use at La Macaza Institution, located outside of Montreal.

Serial rapist and convicted murderer Paul Bernardo was transferred to the medium-security prison last year from the penitentiary in Ontario where he lived for decades.

His move set off a political firestorm for the Liberals, as the Tories demanded he be returned to serve out his indeterminate life sentence in maximum-security conditions.

The prison service has said procedures were followed and Bernardo had long met the criteria to be reclassified as a medium-security inmate — decisions Ottawa says are made at arm's length from politicians.

Frank Caputo, a Conservative MP from British Columbia, released a video on social media detailing a tour he took of the institution.

In the video posted Sunday, Caputo said he was angered to learn that the prison provided inmates with a hockey rink and other recreational facilities.

«I walked outside and I had a look and I said, 'What's that — looks like a hockey rink,»' he recalled in the video. «It was.

»Inmates can go and they can get skates and they can play hockey."

The correctional service said in a media statement that while boards are up around a rink at the institution, «there has no been no ice for the past two winters.»

«There is currently no functioning hockey rink or tennis court being used by inmates at La Macaza,» spokesperson Kevin Antonucci said in an email.

«It should also be noted that opportunities to participate in recreational