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Karla Homolka, the "Schoolgirl Killer," is eligible for a pardon, and allegedly planning to apply as early as July 5. The woman who helped her husband Paul Bernardo rape, torture and murder three schoolgirls, including her own sister, is hoping to get her criminal record cleansed. If Canadian law remains unchanged, she's likely to get it -- and if it wasn't for a child molester, we might not even know.
Canada's pardon system is astoundingly out of whack. How the system works was largely unknown to Canadians until April of this year, when Graham James, who was convicted of 350 counts of sexual assault against NHL star Sheldon Kennedy and another unnamed player, was discovered to have been pardoned for his crimes three years ago. At the time the news came to light, he was coaching boys hockey in Spain. After James' pardon came to light, people started looking at other convicted criminals who may become eligible for a pardon, and it was discovered that Karla Homolka would be eligible this year. How was it possible?
It's possible because the Canadian system believes in giving people second chances, no matter what crime they committed. There are some limitations on who can apply, but they are they are not very stringent. According to Macleans, only 800 of 40,000 applications were denied last year.
I found myself wondering what exactly being pardoned means. Does it mean their record is cleared? I had go looking to find out and found that the CBC did a backgrounder on federal clemency after this all came to light. A pardon doesn't erase a crime, it essentially seals the person's criminal records. Those pardoned for sexual offences are still flagged in the system, but Homolka, who served 12 years in prison on a plea bargain for manslaughter in the rape and murder of teenagers Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, would find it easier to find work and travel with the pardon.
It can be argued that a pardon doesn't erase or forgive the crime. Intellectually I get that, but emotionally it is another story. When I look up "pardon" in the dictionary this what I see: "forgiveness of a serious offense or offender." I do not forgive Holmolka for her crimes. How can I forgive something I can't even comprehend?
My friends and I were what we'd now call tweens when Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo's crimes came to light. Our parents tried to shield us from the details of the crimes committed by them. We were beyond the age where we believed that monsters lived under our beds, but our parents knew that there were terrible things that do go bump in the night. They didn't know how to answer our questions about how someone, really not that much older than ourselves, could commit such horrible deeds. They didn't know how to explain, or understand themselves, how such evil exists the world. They did not know how to shield us or keep us safe from it.
Now, as an adult, I watch my friends raise their daughters, and I understand these crimes even less. I knew that Karla Homolka would become eligible this year -- but when I heard Homolka is allegedly planning to apply, my stomach turned. How can you explain to anyone that someone who helped rape, torture and murder girls not only walks free but may do so with a pardon? You can't.
My mind goes to the victims' families. Kristen French's mother Donna French, spoke out against Homolka's eligibility for a pardon in May.
Speaking in support of the proposed pardon reform last month, Donna French, the mother of Kristen French, who was murdered by Homolka and her then-husband Paul Bernardo in 1992, told QMI Agency that she opposed a pardon for her daughter's killer.
"From a victim's perspective, a pardon means you are forgiven for doing this horrific crime, and that is totally inappropriate and totally unjust," French said.
I'm not surprised that Holmolka is reportedly planning to apply for parole. She did, after all, manage to negotiate a plea bargain that caused such waves in Canada it has its own entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia. It really is the next logical step for her. The more disturbing part is that she really might get it.
The government today reached an agreement to ">push pardon reform through the House of Commons, but they are currently on a time crunch. Parliament goes to recess on June 21, and Homolka could apply
