Press Room

TORONTO, Feb. 28 2008 - The decision by the National Parole Board to overturn an earlier decision by a regional office of the Board to keep Robert Latimer in jail was a tragic one. He placed his 12 year old disabled daughter Tracy in the family truck and deliberately murdered her 15 years ago. He was sentenced to 10 years without parole and began serving his sentence in 2001 after appeals.
"Robert Latimer has expressed no remorse for the murder of his daughter," said Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). "He even asked to be released in Ottawa, which the Parole Board has complied with, purportedly so he could lobby the government to accept his point of view." "Defenseless disabled people need protection from those who would take the law into their own hands and decide who should live and who should die," said Mary Ellen Douglas, National Organizer of CLC.
CLC says that the decision to grant day parole to Latimer sends an unfortunate but clear signal that the lives of people with disabilities are not equally valued.

Campaign Life Coalition urges Canadians to call their MPs and ask that protection for the vulnerable handicapped be maintained and strengthened by law.

For further information: Media Contacts: Mary Ellen Douglas, CLC National Organizer, Toronto, (416) 204-9749; Aidan Reid, CLC Public Affairs Office, Ottawa, (613) 729-0379