COLUMN: Think Again – Convicted murderer doesn’t belong on campus

Imagine a young woman attending a university law class. How do you think she will feel when she suddenly learns that the man sitting beside her in class for the last few weeks is a convicted murderer?

This isn’t a hypothetical scenario. For the entire month of September and part of October, a convicted murderer attended law classes at McGill University. The law student in question is Jeffrey George Ewert, a man convicted over 40 years ago of second-degree murder and attempted murder.

In 1984, when he was in his 20s, Ewert sexually assaulted a young woman and strangled her to death. Six weeks later, he attacked a fifteen-year-old girl who rejected his advances. After severely beating and choking her, he dumped her body in a ditch. While the girl survived the assault, she was left blind and paralyzed.

For these heinous crimes, Ewert received a life sentence. However, a life sentence in Canada doesn’t necessarily mean life behind bars. Even the most heinous criminals can apply for parole after enough time has passed. In Ewert’s case, the parole board granted him day parole last year. This made it possible for Ewert to attend law classes at McGill.

Incredibly, the other students at McGill weren’t notified about Ewert’s criminal history. For weeks, vulnerable young women who fit the profile of Ewert’s previous victims sat beside Ewert completely oblivious to his background. Both the university administration and the parole board failed to prioritize the safety and well-being of these students.

To make matters worse, Ewert has a history of violating his parole conditions. These conditions included a requirement that Ewert disclose to his parole officer any relationships with women along with any attempted relationships

In addition, a professional who assessed Ewert on a psychopathy scale concluded that he was a “moderate to high” risk of committing another violent sexual crime. However, it was determined that Ewert’s recidivism risk could be brought down to a “moderate” level if he was closely supervised.

Keep in mind that this risk assessment of Ewert took place recently. In other words, Ewert is currently at “moderate to high” risk of reoffending. Thus, there’s no way that Ewert should be attending university classes. The safety of the other students must take priority.

As for the argument that Ewert has served his time and should now be left alone, remember that Ewert’s sentence is not finished. Anyone convicted of second-degree murder automatically receives a life sentence. Even when granted parole, the sentence itself continues, and parole can be revoked at any time.

In other words, this isn’t a situation where someone who committed a minor crime many years ago is being unfairly harassed today. Rather, we have a man convicted of murder who is currently considered to be a “moderate to high” risk of reoffending. Plus, he has track record of violating his parole conditions.

Given these facts, Ewert should not be allowed to attend law classes on a university campus. There are plenty of distance courses available that Ewert is welcome to enroll in. It’s too bad if that limits the options available to Ewert. When you murder someone, your future career options should be severely limited.

Frankly, Ewert shouldn’t even be on parole at all. His crimes were so heinous that he deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison. The fact that he has repeatedly violated his parole conditions tells us everything we need to know about the risk he remains to society at large.

I’m fed up with our country’s revolving door justice system. Convicted murderers do not belong in university classes.

Michael Zwaagstra is a teacher and deputy mayor of Steinbach. He can be reached at mzwaagstra@shaw.ca.