Former NHL goalie whose parents were murdered laments Supreme Court life-without-parole reversal

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Ex-NHL goaltender Don Edwards is writing a book detailing the injustice surrounding his parents’ murder. Edwards believes full parole is inevitable for the man who killed them in 1991

Don Edwards, a former National Hockey League star, is writing an unusual memoir for a retired athlete.. The book will talk about George Harding Lovie, who killed Mr. Edwards’ mother and father in Hamilton, Ont., early one blood-drenched morning on the first day of spring in 1991.

“At one time I was a very proud Canadian,” he added. “I wore the sweater of Canada in the 1981 Canada Cup. I’m not a proud Canadian any more. How can I be? I thought the justice system is there for people who abide by the laws, and their job is to protect victims.” Early in Don Edwards’s hockey career, his parents arranged for Lefty Wilson, trainer of the Detroit Red Wings, to make this goalie mask for their son. He made the plaster cast at the Edwards kitchen table.

At four in the morning on March 21, 1991, Mr. Lovie hid under Ms. Edwards’ front porch. He brought a blanket to stay warm. He was armed with a newly purchased lever-action repeating rifle, and he had a knife in his belt. He was obsessed with reconciling with Ms. Edwards. But first he had to persuade her to drop the sexual assault charges.

The Supreme Court, in its May ruling, stressed that parole eligibility does not mean a right to parole; it is simply a right to a hearing. The court said Canadian values require that a door be left open to rehabilitation. And it expressed its faith in the board. “It, perhaps, provides a measure of solace to know that compelling evidence of rehabilitation will be demanded before the perpetrators of such crimes will be released on parole,” Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote.

At least one condition didn’t work out. Mr. Lovie was supposed to see a mental-health counsellor, but when he told the counsellor after just three sessions that he was there only because of the board’s order, the counsellor refused to see him again. The board dropped the condition. Even so, it acknowledged some violence was possible: A measurement of his recidivism risk by the Correctional Service of Canada determined that one in three offenders with the score he received would likely commit an indictable offence within three years of release.

Federal law says that to be released on parole a person must not pose an “undue” risk of reoffending. In practice, according to Mary Campbell, a former director-general at Public Safety Canada, which oversees the parole board, this means the board decides if an offender’s risk can be managed in the community.

 

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Don Edward's was a very fine goal keeper. Had he played in the 1981 Canada Cup final, it might have been a very different outcome. oldhockeycards NHL

It will also talk about how Mr. Lovie was handed life in prison with a 25-year wait to be eligible for full parole – and explain how the Parole Board of Canada set him free on day parole, 28 years later. Story by SeanFineGlobe:

“It, perhaps, provides measure of solace to know that compelling evidence of rehabilitation will be demanded before the perpetrators of such crimes will be released on parole,” Chief Justice Richard Wagner wrote. Wagner, truly despicable, destroying Canada one ruling at a time.

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