CSC/NPB RELEASE INVESTIGATION REPORT INTO THE CASE OF ELI ULAYUK INVOLVED IN THE MURDER OF A COMMUNITY PAROLE OFFICER IN YELLOWKNIFE , NWT

Ottawa, March 9, 2006 – The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the National Parole Board (NPB) today made public the Report of the Board of Investigation into the release and supervision of federal offender Eli Ulayuk. Ulayuk was serving a life sentence for manslaughter and was on full parole when he was charged with the murder of CSC Community Parole Officer Louise Pargeter who died on October 6, 2004 .

The Board of Investigation was convened by the Commissioner of CSC and the Chairperson of the NPB soon after the offender’s arrest following this tragic incident. The release of the report was delayed until the trial proceedings had concluded. However, Ulayuk pled guilty to second degree murder on February 22, 2006 and was sentenced to life without eligibility of parole for 25 years.

The Board’s report addresses all aspects of the case, including the offender’s behaviour prior to and following his release into the community, the quality and nature of supervision provided, and the appropriateness of CSC staff safety practices. The Board also examined NPB’s decisions, the quality of the risk assessments as well as the NPB’s decision-making policies and procedures.

This is the first time in CSC’s history that a community parole officer died in the line of duty, and CSC immediately took corrective measures to mitigate risks to help ensure this kind of tragedy never happens again. Many of the recommendations in the Board’s report have already been implemented, and CSC and NPB have developed action plans that together constitute the appropriate federal response in several areas such as:

• Community staff safety policies;
• Risk assessment and risk management;
• Intervention programs with offenders;
• CSC’s gathering of essential information from other sources; and
• Other issues related to how CSC plans, organizes, and delivers correctional operations and services.

The NPB has already taken action to reduce the number of hearings per day for Board Members and expanded orientation training for new Board Members as well as ongoing annual training for all Board Members.

In addition to this Report, as required under the Canada Labour Code, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) also investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of Ms. Pargeter and submitted their recommendations to CSC for consideration and review.

This news release, the Executive Summary and vetted report of the Board of Investigation, and CSC’s Action Plan developed in response to the recommendations may be found on CSC’s web site www.csc-scc.gc.ca under “Media Room” or “What’s New.”

A summary of NPB’s response and action taken can be seen on the Parole Board’s web site at www.npb-cnlc.gc.ca under “What’s New.”

The above documents have been vetted according to the provisions of the Access to Information and Privacy Acts.

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FOR INFORMATION

Michèle Pilon-Santilli
Correctional Service of Canada
Ottawa , (613) 371-7127

or

John Vandoremalen
National Parole Board
Ottawa , (613) 954-6547

or

Jeff Campbell
Correctional Service of Canada
Yellowknife , (867) 766-8501